How this 27-year-old is rebuilding her finances after a French detour

Angane is leveraging dual income streams to repay her loan and regain financial control after health concerns

- Jash Kriplani

It was a roller-coaster ride for Mumbai-based Sailee Satish Angane when she was studying abroad. First it was disrupted by the covid-19 pandemic and later by a medical scare. Despite these challenges, the 27-year-old has tried to overcome the financial pressures by managing her education loan and helping with household expenses after abruptly being forced to return from France, where she was pursuing her master's degree.

But what has worked in favour of Angane is the double income from giving French tuition in the evenings and her day job as a marketing executive. She has decided to stay back in India, instead of exploring post-study work options in France. Reasons: Better job prospects in India and higher living costs in France.

With the help of a mutual fund distributor, Angane is also using her income to make investments to meet her financial goals.

Investment mix Angane says she didn't have any clue about investing initially. Her father always invested in bank fixed deposits only. After meeting a mutual fund distributor in 2022, she began investing in mutual funds.

So far, she has paid 20% of her education loan. Her investments are split into 58% equity and 42% in non-equity funds. About 35% of her equity portfolio is in large-cap funds, 30% in flexi-cap funds, and 10% each in mid-cap and small-cap funds. The rest is in equity-oriented hybrid funds. The non-equity portfolio comprises 20% liquid funds for emergency needs, 25% in arbitrage funds for 6-12 month goals (travel plans) and 55% in equity saving funds for 2-3 years goals (wedding expenses). Recently, she bought a ₹50 lakh term insurance cover, as she is the sole earner. Her father, 66, is retired, while her mother, 50, runs a small babysitting business at home.