From funding her own college education to becoming an entrepreneur, Yogita has had an eventful journey.
Childhood was not a bed of roses for Yogita. Brought up by her mother single-handedly, Yogita learnt the virtues of thrift and self-sacrifice early in life. “I used to get a new dress only on my birthday or once in a year. I wasn’t deprived of anything but there was always a scarcity,” recalls Yogita sitting in a compact office which she shares with her husband in Andheri.
Yogita realized the importance of money at a very early stage in her life. When she was studying in 8th standard, her mother faced serious medical problems which required expensive treatment.
Life turned upside down for Yogita as she found that she could not continue her education due to paucity of funds. However, her academic excellence helped her bag scholarship in school. While her education fees were taken care of by the scholarship, she needed to support her family financially as her mother was not able to support her anymore due to her ailing health.
Yogita was caught in a bind. Being a teenager, she could neither take up a job nor discontinue her studies. To contribute to her family, Yogita started coaching students which continued till she got her first job after graduation. Her hardships made her realize the significance of saving and planning for the future early in her career. She started investing her savings in recurring deposits and LIC.
Her first job was in the finance department in a company. Her colleagues who were CAs introduced her with other investment avenues like mutual funds, PPF and equities. Slowly, she started taking a keen interest in the investment management industry.
Along with her job, in 2004, she started distributing post office savings scheme and subsequently enrolled with LIC. In 2008, she cleared AMFI exam. In 2009 she realized that she wanted to graduate from just being a product provider to a financial counselor. And after completing her CFP in 2011, Yogita gave up her LIC license in order to provide more competitive products to her clients.
In 2011, she floated a firm called ASKy Financial Services in partnership with Anil Gulrajani who is also a CFP.
Together, they cater to 30 clients who invest in mutual funds and 15 families who have enrolled for comprehensive financial planning services. When direct plans got introduced, Yogita started recommending them to her HNI clients. They charge a percentage fee on the assets under advisory in direct plans. They have built their client base purely by spreading the word about their services in their respective circles.
From here, they plan to expand their team, start a website and get active on social media.
Yogita has enrolled for a life planning course with Money Quotient, a company which provides financial life planning tools and training for professionals. “Partha Iyengar is my mentor for life planning and Gaurav Mashruwalla for financial planning. I look up to them,” says Yogita. She aspires to be one of the best life planners in India. Yogita’s life is a living proof that hard work always pays off.
