FIRE Planning Explained: Amit’s Journey, Asset Allocation & Investment Frameworks

In this episode, Amit Upadhyaya breaks down the career journey, investment strategies and decisions that helped him achieve FIRE at 46 with a ₹10 crore corpus. From starting his career at a ₹15,000 salary to building a diversified portfolio over two decades, Amit shares how he approached investing, asset allocation, mutual funds, direct stocks, gold, international stocks, retirement planning and financial independence. We also get into some deeply practical questions: • Why does Amit believe most people should avoid direct stocks? • How should you choose mutual funds? • What mistakes did he make while building wealth? • Why did his portfolio strategy completely change after FIRE? • How much equity, debt and gold should one ideally hold? Along with portfolio allocation, withdrawal strategy, diversification, compounding, inflation assumptions and mutual fund selection frameworks, this conversation also explores the emotional and psychological side of achieving financial freedom. If you're serious about long-term investing, mutual funds, FIRE, asset allocation and building wealth sustainably, this episode is packed with practical insights for you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Timestamps 00:00 Amit Upadhyaya’s ₹10 Cr FIRE Journey 00:48 Career Journey, Salary Growth & Working 19 Years in One Company 05:50 “Does High Salary Make FIRE Easy?” Amit Responds 07:42 How Amit Learned Compounding & Started Investing 09:23 Mutual Funds, Direct Stocks & Why He Added Gold 11:17 “There Is No Formula in Personal Finance” 13:57 How He Calculated His ₹10 Cr FIRE Number 16:31 Asset Allocation Before & After FIRE 18:52 Amit’s Biggest Investing Mistake 20:57 Why Amit Says Most People Should Avoid Direct Stocks 24:42 How to Pick the Right Mutual Funds 28:47 Why Flexi Cap is the BEST 31:52 Redeeming Mutual Funds & NAV Myths Explained 33:56 How Investing Changed After Retiring Early 36:19 Amit’s Real Definition of FIRE & Advice for