A reader’s personal finance plan from about 2 decades ago reveals what quiet discipline and long-term thinking can really do, without the noise of market timing
It was a letter to Outlook Money around 2 decades ago, a reader, perhaps from South India, wrote it with a plan so unassuming that few might have paid attention. She wanted to buy one gram of gold every month for her daughter’s wedding. That was it. No mutual funds, no stock tips. Just gold. One gram at a time.
Assuming the reader started investing in 2010. Back then, gold stood at Rs 18,500 per 10 grams. Fast forward to May 2025, and the price has crossed Rs 1,00,000 per 10 grams. If she stayed the course and bought one gram each month over those 15 years, she’d now be sitting on 185 grams of gold. At today’s rates, that’s worth around Rs 1.5 crore.
No financial advisor. No SIP calculator. Just sheer consistency.
Assuming an average annual return of 12.4 per cent, the numbers check out. But what stands out isn’t the maths. It’s the mindset. Quiet, patient, deliberate. No high returns, no FOMO (fear of missing out) trades. Just a mother thinking ahead.
In times of instant gratification, everything is available just on the fingertips. This speaks in a whisper: Slow and steady wins the race.