The millennial marketeer’s secret for financial success

35-year-old Kunwarbir Singh has invested wisely, but plans to consult a Sebi RIA for guidance

Kunwarbir Singh is as millennial as they come. He works for Lenovo, a laptop manufacturer, and focuses on the gaming segment with its teenager and GenZ audience. His previous stints involved selling ‘fragrances and booze’, as he puts it. Singh, 34, has worked for large consumer brands like Titan, Diageo and Heiniken. A resident of Bengaluru, his career shift aligns with his view on renting versus buying a home debate. “I’m a nomad. I don’t like being tied down to a place which home buying will do,” he says nonchalantly. Singh,who worked in Delhi for four years, pays ₹50,000 monthly rent for the two-bedroom house in Domlur, Bengaluru—It’s been a home for the last more than seven years.

Singh’s investing style is also reflective of the mindset shift that millennials have been through: From the ‘gold and real estate’ fixation of the previous generations to the obsession with the ‘click of a button’ stock market trading that emerged after the pandemic. Singh, though, is not new to the markets. He hails from a business family in Kolkata where stock market talk was an integral part of growing up.

“My dad used to invest in stocks traded at the Calcutta Stock Exchange. In fact our house was built with the money we got from selling Ranbaxy shares,” he said. But the ‘old way’ of transacting in shares, filling up multiple forms or visiting the stock exchange personally was intimidating. It’s only the massive ease of investing brought about during pandemic that got him involved. “I reconnected with some old friends during the pandemic and we used to discuss stocks in our Whatsapp group, solve each other’s queries. That is when I opened an account with a discount broker and started investing in stocks and mutual funds,” he says. “My dad still doesn’t believe in mutual funds. I let him invest a little bit in direct stocks,” he adds.

Singh’s been extremely diligent when it comes to saving for retirement. “I max out my voluntary provident fund and I’ve done so at all my previous jobs. Same for public provident fund,” he says. A decade into his career and several career jumps and promotions later, this has grown into a substantial corpus. He also participates in his employer’s stock programme—getting paid partly in Lenovo stock every month. “This was my one big regret with Titan, my first job. I didn’t buy its shares. This time around, I won’t make that mistake,” he says.

What about financial goals? “Well that’s why I want to meet a Sebi-registered

investment adviser (RIA),” Singh says. “I want to sit down and straighten out some parts of my finances. Invest, with a plan in mind. I don’t have ‘life goals’ as such - I’m sorted there. I’m married and do not want to have any kids. I have two dogs and they keep us quite busy. I’m not a fan of early retirement either. If I stop working too early, my brain will go soft,” he said.

Other than provident fund, Singh puts aside about 10% of his take-home salary into mutual funds and stocks (all equity funds). Besides the health coverage provided by his employer, he has a health policy for ₹50 lakh (that is loaded with no-claim bonuses).

“I need to get term insurance, which is one of the things I need to check with the adviser,” he said.

Financial success is the achievement of one’s financial goals at the right time. While not many millennials are sure about their financial goals or the path to get there, Singh has amassed enough money over the years to achieve his financial goals effortlessly. That sets him apart from many of his peers.