Ready for the next adventure

The tendency to spend more as your income grows — known as lifestyle inflation — is human nature, says Sachin. 

“The more you earn, the more luxurious your lifestyle gets, and the larger your expenses. So while you are earning more, you might feel a lot poorer,” adds the venture capitalist, who admittedly has his eye on fancy cars and watches.

Because of this, Sachin counts himself lucky to have a wife who keeps his material wants in check.

“I'm quite fortunate that I have a life partner who keeps me grounded. She is very chill and low maintenance; I’m the one who’s always telling her to go out and buy herself nice things.

“I try not to be too attached to material things. I don’t have a watch, and it’s not that I can’t afford one, but it’s because I already have a phone that shows the time,” he says.

Instead, Sachin is a firm believer that wealth can buy certain freedoms in life. That could be pursuing a hobby, spending time with family, or working on a project that may not have a monetary value pegged to it, for instance.

“Money can be a great enabler to enjoy some of the best food. Money can be a great enabler to spend a good amount of time with your loved ones. I think money sort of helps you amplify some of these intangible experiences that would be hard to experience if you didn't have money in the first place,” he shares. 

Ultimately, he sees wealth as one of many components that contribute to an enhanced peace of mind. 

“Wealth is more than just money. It’s an enabler to do the things you love,” he says. “It allows me to have control of my time. It allows me to worry less about the future.”

While Sachin and his wife both invest to grow their wealth, their preferences and risk appetites could not be more different.

To a large extent, Sachin’s personal investing philosophy is shaped by his profession. 

“I work in venture capital and that essentially entails investing in technology companies. You can  think of it as investing in the future. That sort of dovetails with my personal investing stance of taking a long-term view… investing in assets that ideally compound over a period of time,” he says. 

“When you think about building wealth, you do need to take a slightly longer-term view. A shorter-term view is more of a trading mindset.” 

He adopts a capital-allocator mindset and aims to spot new trends before the market does.

“I tend to be more aggressive, more risk-on and ready for the next adventure.” he says. 

But his wife is generally more passive and risk-averse when it comes to investing. 

“If she had it her way, we would have most of our funds in fixed deposits,” says Sachin. 

To that end, he sees Endowus as the bridge between the couple’s polarising investment philosophies. “You can call Endowus a peacemaker. It caters to different risk profiles and financial goals.”

In a market inundated with fragmented wealth solutions, Sachin appreciates having access to a one-stop shop platform with Endowus. “It essentially acts as a wealth aggregator and solves the issue of getting expert advice,” he notes.

“You can call Endowus a peacemaker. It caters to different risk profiles and financial goals.”

Patience, says Sachin, is a trait he wishes was more deeply ingrained in him from a young age. 

In a society that relishes and cultivates instant gratification, it can be challenging to stick to a long-term investment strategy and ride out prolonged uncertainties, particularly in recent times. 

“As a kid, I wish I was told more about having a long-term mindset when it comes to investing…really thinking about how an asset can compound and also having a positive-sum approach to investing. The pie is large enough and everyone can win,” he says.

He stresses that “get-rich-quick” schemes do not exist. “When you think about building wealth, you do need to take a slightly longer-term view. A shorter-term view is more of a trading mindset.” 

Ultimately, the financial planning journey should entail investing in a diversified range of asset classes and ideally seeing strong, compounding growth across the board, he notes.

“Over the long run, I just want to be surrounded by my friends and family. I want to enjoy good food and drinks. I want to travel and see the world. And I want to do all of that while knowing my wealth is secure and growing,” says Sachin. 

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