Last Updated:January 12, 2026, 21:19 IST

An Indian IT professional built Rs 9 crore in 20 years via disciplined equity and mutual fund investing, earning praise for his financial freedom story./

By 2026, his annual salary had grown to about Rs 65 lakh, while his investment portfolio had swelled to nearly Rs 9 crore.

Whether salaried employees or business owners, most Indians worry about how to build a financial cushion for life after retirement. While many continue to favour conservative investment options, a recent post by an IT professional on Reddit has struck a chord online, offering a compelling counter-narrative built on discipline and long-term investing.

The now-viral post details how the engineer accumulated a corpus of nearly Rs 9 crore over two decades, without inherited wealth, overseas income, stock options or windfall gains from real estate. Describing himself as an “average guy working in IT industry”, the 47-year-old said he began his career in 2005 with an annual salary of Rs 3 lakh and no investment portfolio to speak of.

According to the post, the professional invested in equities from the very beginning of his career, avoided fixed deposits, lived frugally and consistently channelled a significant portion of his income into stocks and mutual funds. He was the sole earning member of a family of five throughout this period. “No onsite/dollar earnings though travelled to multiple countries from company/self,” he wrote, adding that his approach remained unchanged even as his income rose over the years.

By 2026, his annual salary had grown to about Rs 65 lakh, while his investment portfolio had swelled to nearly Rs 9 crore. Of this, around Rs 8 crore is invested directly in equities and about Rs 1 crore in mutual funds. He claims his portfolio has delivered an average annual return, or XIRR, of roughly 21%, an exceptional figure by market standards.

“No ESOP. Salary is pre-tax. Each year there was some extra bonus/awards as usual,” he further wrote, saying that he was the only earning member in a family of five.

The IT professional attributed his success largely to the power of compounding. “This is pure compounding with 21% XIRR. The magic happens after 10-15 years. I still hold many shares for decade,” he wrote. He also noted that he invested his annual bonuses in the market and now earns close to Rs 6 lakh a year in dividends from his equity holdings.

The post has drawn widespread praise on social media, with users calling it a rare and honest account amid stories dominated by overseas earnings and startup windfalls. “21 percent XIRR is insane, can you please guide us on this,” one user commented.

Another wrote, “A true story of a common Indian IT professional. Thanks for keeping it real.” Yet another said the post stood out because it showed that financial freedom is possible in India through disciplined spending and long-term investing.

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