Getting an education from a coveted institution can really kickstart your career and boost your income, but it definitely comes with a hefty price tag. Many students end up taking education loans to bridge their funding requirement. Once they start working, a significant chunk of their income goes towards paying off those loans. Creating wealth seems a distant dream since it often takes years to clear the debt.
However, a 29-year married Reddit user has shared his story of how, just four years into his job, he not only paid off his education loan but also created a corpus of Rs 50 lakh, starting his investment journey from scratch with no family inheritance.
The user wrote that he has accumulated Rs 20.5 lakh through his systematic investment plan (SIP) in mutual funds, Rs 12 lakh in his Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Rs 8.5 lakh in his savings account, Rs 7 lakh in fixed deposits (FD) and Rs 2 lakh in Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs).
Most salaried folks might wonder how someone could build a Rs 50 lakh corpus in just four years while also repaying their education loan and running a household. Let’s take a look at what the person has to stay in his post::
Can a salaried person generate Rs 50 lakh corpus in just 4 years?
The answer depends on how much he is earning on a monthly basis and what percentage of it he is investing. The Reddit user claims to be a graduate from the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, which, in its 2025 Final Placement report quoted an average salary of Rs 27.50 lakh for its students with a highest offer of Rs 81 lakh. If someone starts their career with Rs 30 lakh annual package and takes it to Rs 60-Rs 70 lakh in the next four years, they can invest a good portion of their salary to generate a Rs 50 lakh corpus.
However, students from Tier-II and Tier-III institutions in India have a much lower starting salary compared to Rs 28 lakh. They have to boost their income fast if they want to build a Rs 50 lakh corpus.
The next point is how much estimated amount did the Redditt user invest in diversified investments to create a Rs 50 lakh corpus. Let’s figure out the estimated investment that is required to build a Rs 50 lakh investment portfolio mirroring the Redditt user’s portfolio.
Rs 20.5 lakh mutual fund portfolio in 4 years
The Redditt user claims to build a Rs 20.5 lakh portfolio only from step up SIP in mutual fund(s).
For a salaried person, a step-up SIP can be an effective way to invest in mutual funds and create a substantial corpus. Assuming annualised return is in the range of 6%-10% and for a 7% annual step up, a person needs to start with SIPs in the range of Rs 34,260 -Rs 31,750 to create a Rs 20.5 lakh corpus in four years.
Rs 20.5 lakh corpus in 4 years under 6%-12% returns
| Rate of return | SIP amount (Year 1) | Annual step up | Total investment |
| 6% | ₹ 34,260 | 7% | ₹ 18,25,349 |
| 8% | ₹ 33,000 | 7% | ₹ 17,58,217 |
| 10% | ₹ 31,750 | 7% | ₹ 16,91,618 |
| 12% | ₹ 30,570 | 7% | ₹ 16,28,749 |
Rs 8.5 lakh corpus from savings account in four years
The Redditt user also claims to have Rs 8.5 lakh in his savings account. A savings account is a low-risk investment that can be used for money required for immediate needs. People also use savings accounts to park their emergency funds. However, the interest rate earned in a savings account is lower with the majority of leading public sector and private banks offering 2.5%-3% rates in their respective savings account schemes.
Before starting their investment, if someone wants to create an emergency fund in their savings account whose value will be Rs 8.5 lakh in four years, at an interest rate of 2.5%, they need to invest Rs 7,73000 in today’s time.
Amount required to create Rs 8.50 lakh corpus in savings account in 4 years
| Target Corpus After 4 Years | Assumed Interest Rate | Required investment |
| ₹ 8,50,000 | 2.5% p.a. | ₹ 7,73,000 |
Rs 7 lakh from FD in four years
The Redditt user also claims to have Rs 7 lakh in fixed deposits (FDs). Traditional banks and small finance banks offer FDs of different tenures and interest rates. Though one can invest in multiple FDs of different tenure, if they want to create a Rs 7 lakh corpus from their FD investment in four years where the assumed interest rate is 6.5%, they need to invest Rs 5,41,000.
Investment required to create Rs 7 lakh corpus from FD
| Target Corpus After 4 Years | Assumed FD Interest Rate | Required Investment |
| ₹ 7,00,000 | 6.5% p.a. | ₹ 5,41,000 |
Rs 12 lakh from EPF in four years
The Rediff user claims that he has Rs 12 lakh in his PF account. An EPF member can invest a maximum of 12% of their basic pay and dearness allowance (DA) in their EPF account every month. An employer also contributes an equal amount to the PF account of the employee. The current interest rate in EPF is 8.25%.
Assuming that the employee is not a member of EPS and contributes 12% of basic pay, the employer’s 12% contribution also goes towards the PF account, and gets a 7% increment in their basic salary every year, to generate Rs 12 lakh EPF corpus in four years, their starting basic salary should be at least Rs 80,000, as per SBI Securities calculator.
Investment required to create Rs 12 lakh EPF in 4 years
| Target EPF Corpus | Key Assumptions | Required Starting Basic Salary | Total Investment |
| ₹ 12,00,000 | Employee not enrolled in EPS, employee contributes 12% of basic pay, employer’s full 12% contribution goes to EPF account, and basic salary rises 7% annually | ₹ 80,000 | ₹ 10,22,000 |
Rs 2 lakh corpus from SGB in four years
The Redditt user claims that his SGB investments are worth Rs 2 lakh. Issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), SGB are government securities denominated in grams of gold. They serve as an alternative to holding actual gold.
An SGB investor receives the market price of gold at the time of redemption, which can happen 8 years after the issue date of an SGB series. Investors can also redeem their investments at premature redemption, which is allowed five years after the date of the issue.
Assuming that the absolute return in four years was 200%, one needed to invest Rs 67,500 in SGBs to get the maturity value of Rs 2 lakh in the current date.
Estimated amount required to get Rs 2 lakh corpus from SGB in 4 years
| Target Maturity Value | Assumed Absolute Return (4 Years) | Required Investment Amount |
| ₹ 2,00,000 | 200% | ₹ 67,500 |
Estimated amount required to get Rs 50 lakh corpus in 4 years
If we calculate the total investment as per estimated, the amount required to create a Rs 50 lakh corpus will be Rs 40.95 lakh. It can be less or higher if one changes assumptions.
| Asset/Investment Type | Target Amount | Interest Rate / Return Assumption | Amount Invested |
| Fixed Deposit | ₹ 7 lakh | 6.50% | ₹ 5.41 lakh |
| Savings account | ₹ 8.5 lakh | 2.50% | ₹ 7.73 lakh |
| EPF Corpus | ₹ 12 lakh | 8.25% | ₹ 10.22 lakh |
| Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) | ₹ 2 lakh | 200% absolute return | ₹ 67,500 |
| Mutual Fund Investment | ₹ 20.5 lakh | 10% | ₹ 16.91 lakh |
| Total | ₹ 50 lakh | ₹ 40.95 lakh |
To invest around Rs 40 lakh in 4 years, one needs to invest on average Rs 10 lakh per year for 4 years. Even if he invested 50% of his income and if we assume the annual income in the first year to be less than average as Rs 8 lakh, this annual salary should be Rs 16 lakh or above.
Other than repaying their debt, a person has to earn a high salary package to be able to invest 50% of their salary for four consecutive years. For most salaried persons, earning those kinds of salaries may not be easy. What can be the way out to create a substantial retirement corpus?
If someone wants to achieve the target with an investment of less than Rs 40.95 lakh, they need to invest in high-risk investments such as equities. But if the market falls considerably during the short term, they may fail to meet their target of a Rs 50 lakh corpus in four years.
Keep a long investment horizon
If one wants to create a Rs 50 lakh corpus where they want to start with a monthly SIP investment of Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000, they need to keep a long-term investment horizon. They need to work on increasing their income as well as the investment amount.
Years to achieve Rs 50 lakh corpus with Rs 15k-25K step up SIP amount
| SIP amount | Return | Annual step up | Years to achieve Rs 50 lakh corpus |
| ₹ 15,000 | 12% | 7% | 11 |
| ₹ 20,000 | 12% | 7% | 10 |
| ₹ 25,000 | 12% | 7% | 8+ |
Before starting their corpus building journey, they need to build an emergency fund of at least three months and get health and term insurance in place.
For corpus building, they can invest in a mix of equity, hybrid and debt assets such as mutual funds. While debt and hybrid funds can take care of their short-to-medium term needs, equity is likely to provide growth in the long term.
Thus, we can see that building an investment portfolio of Rs 50 lakh in four years with inadequate income is not easy and that too by randomly picking investments. Either one needs to invest high amounts in low-risk assets, or they need to increase their investment horizon to a long term to build a Rs 50 lakh portfolio like the Redditt user.
