I am 35 year old with 2 houses worth 3 crore (will not sell them ever), an XUV 700, without any open loans. Me and wife brings 5 lakh per month in hand salary(after tax deduction). We have 2 year old son. My monthly expenses are about 1 lakh rupees. I am tired and feel leaving job, but do not have courage to start a business (fear of failure and no experience in business across family and generations). What should be my strategy to retire early and have comfortable life until 70 years?

Ans: You have built a strong financial base at age 35. Owning two homes worth Rs.?3 crore and a comfortable monthly income of Rs.?5 lakh is impressive. You are responsible with expenses and loan-free. This gives you flexibility to plan early retirement and a fulfilling post-career life. Let’s craft a comprehensive 360?degree strategy to retire early and maintain comfort till age 70.

Earning & Core Lifestyle

Your combined net salary is Rs.?5 lakh per month.

Household expenses are Rs.?1 lakh monthly.

You remain free to invest or allocate Rs.?4 lakh each month.

This strong surplus supports early exit planning.

You mentioned job fatigue but no business ambition.

Assessment:

You are in a stable salary phase with high cash flow.

Emotional readiness to leave job needs evaluation.

You prefer financial security over entrepreneurial risk.

So, we must build passive income.

Passive Income Goal: Early Exit

Your goal is to stop work early and live comfortably till 70.

Key Principles to Achieve This:

Build diversified passive income streams.

Ensure protection and stability.

Maintain required lifestyle cost adjusted for inflation.

Create buffer for health, child, and home needs.

Avoid risky business ventures. Focus on low-risk assets.

Your Monthly Outflow Needs:

You spend Rs. 1 lakh per month now.

Include inflation cushion: say Rs. 1.5 lakh adjustable lifestyle.

Health, travel, child support may increase this.

Set passive inflow target at Rs. 2 lakh per month after retirement.

House Value – For Lifestyle, Not Sale

You own homes worth Rs. 3 crore.

You plan to never sell them. That aligns with your desire.

But these can provide rental or collateral flexibility.

Do not treat real estate as your income engine.

Let it remain a safe, non-sellable asset.

Emergency & Health Insurance Provision

Maintain 6–12 months of living expenses as emergency savings.

Keep this in liquid funds for easy access.

Family health insurance cover of Rs. 10 lakh or more is necessary.

Include dependent spouse and child in family floater.

Health costs escalate as you age.

Investments – Asset Allocation

You must build a reliable passive income engine from capital.

Key asset classes to invest in:

Equity mutual funds via regular route.

Debt and dynamic bond funds.

Occasional allocation to digital gold.

REITs and government bonds from 2027.

No index funds or annuities.

Equity Portion:

Equity offers growth and helps beat inflation.

Place 50–60% of your investable surplus in actively managed equity funds.

Use regular mutual funds through a Certified Financial Planner.

Regular plans include professional review, goal alignment, rebalancing.

Direct plans lack personalised advice and behavioural reinforcement.

Index funds blindly mimic market; no manager to reduce downside.

Debt Portion:

Keep 20–25% in high-quality debt and dynamic bond funds.

These help reduce volatility and stabilize returns.

Gold Allocation:

Use 5–10% in gold ETFs as inflation hedge.

Do not exceed this—gold is not growth asset.

Use SIP to fund gold allocation steadily.

REIT / Government Bonds (Post?2027):

From 2027, add REIT exposure of max 5–7%.

Use government bonds exposure upto 7–10%.

Both provide periodic income and lower volatility.

Avoid over allocation at cost of equity growth.

Investment Plan to Build Income

You currently have Rs. 4 lakh/month investable surplus.

Suggested monthly allocation:

Equity MFs (actively managed): ~Rs. 2.4 lakh (60%)

Debt / dynamic bond funds: ~Rs. 80,000 (20%)

Gold ETF SIP: Rs. 40,000 (10%)

REIT + Govt bond reserve: later (2027 onwards)

Why such split?

Equity drives long-term growth.

Debt stabilises income and smoothens returns.

Gold protects against inflation spikes.

REIT/bonds supplement regular income.

Retirement Income Strategy

Aim: Rs. 2 lakh per month via SWP from 2040–2045.

Steps to build corpus:

Continue SIPs until total equity/debt corpus reaches target.

Suppose at Rs. 3.5–4 crore corpus, SWP of Rs. 2 lakh/month is sustainable.

Corpus must grow till age 45–50 ideally.

Then start phased SWP withdrawal alongside job exit.

Exit job gradually, not abruptly. Test income gap.

Job Exit Plan Guidelines

Do not quit at once. Create bridge plan.

At age 45, check SWP income vs expenses.

Maintain buffer before full exit.

Stay in partial-gig or consultancy post exit.

Monitor portfolio drawdown, liquidity.

Take health insurance cover into retirement.

Tax Efficiency and SWP Planning

Equity LTCG > Rs. 1.25 lakh taxed at 12.5%.

Equity STCG taxed at 20%.

Debt MF taxed per income slab.

Use SWP to control tax liabilities each year.

Withdraw in slabs to minimise LTCG.

Advice from CFP needed annually for tax planning.

Risk Management & Portfolio Review

Review investments yearly with CFP.

Rebalance asset allocation based on performance.

Keep new income streams stable and low-risk.

Cover family’s future needs before exit.

Son’s Future and Education

Your child is 2. Education and marriage funding needed.

Use goal-based mutual fund SIP for child funds.

Allocate 60% equity and 40% hybrid debt.

Continue this parallel to retirement planning.

By age 20, this corpus will be sufficient.

Lifestyle, Health & Growth Post?Exit

Plan a fulfilling routine post-exit.

Travel, learning, hobbies, family time add value.

Keep mental and physical health in focus.

Maintain networking to offer consultation or mentoring if desired.

Build optional income buffer via passive interest or rent reinvestment.

Periodic Review & Adjustments

Review every year with CFP from age 35 onward.

Track goal progress for retirement and child funding.

Adjust asset allocation as goals near.

Reclaim unused insurance or shift as required.

Increase SIPs if surplus grows.

Final Insights

Your income and assets are a great base.

Focus on growing passive income, not business risk.

Use asset allocation mix of equity, debt, gold, REIT, bonds.

Build Rs. 2 lakh/month SWP corpus by age 45–50.

Exit job gradually backed by passive income test.

Continue child education corpus concurrently.

Maintain health, family support structures.

Use regular mutual funds, avoid index or direct plans.

Revisit every year with Certified Financial Planner.

Your early retirement and quality life till 70 are achievable.

Best Regards,
K. Ramalingam, MBA, CFP,
Chief Financial Planner,
www.holisticinvestment.in
https://www.youtube.com/@HolisticInvestment