REF: https://www.reddit.com/r/FIREPakistan/comments/1telk75/become_a_multimillionaire_a_proven_formula_for/

Sorry, bear with me for another long post.

Some people have encouraged me to keep sharing my thoughts. My previous three posts focused on only one side of the picture, while I believe there is another side that is equally important.

Although these points may seem obvious or minor to many, I still feel they are worth sharing, as they may offer value or perspective that helps us all.

FIRE Journey: Beyond Financial Literacy

In the FIRE journey, many people have the financial literacy, yet they still struggle to achieve significant success in life. I believe there are several other equally important factors that shape outcomes.

1. Observation

The first and foremost skill is strong observation.

Do you observe your daily life deeply? Do you reflect on your routines? Do you notice fine details such as cleanliness, dressing, behaviour, and patterns around you?

Strong observers identify problems, inefficiencies, and gaps in existing systems. This ability to notice what others ignore is a key driver of success in life and entrepreneurship.

2. Travelling

Travel, travel, and travel.

In Western countries, I have observed that people travel abroad once or twice a year it’s their habit, often with their families. Travel broadens perspective and accelerates learning.

Even local travel can be valuable. When I visited the UK in 2009–2010, I observed TV commercials, advertisements, and business models that I am now seeing in Pakistan in 2025–2026 (such as Daraz, Priceoye, Mawazna, insurance platforms, etc.).

Developed countries are often one or two decades ahead in business trends. If you observe carefully, you can learn, adapt, and replicate (copying/pasting) ideas—sometimes that alone can create millionaire opportunities.

Parents who expose their children early to travel and different environments give them a strong advantage and motivation to earn and think bigger.

3. Language, Skills, and Passport

Learning additional languages such as German or Mandarin gives you a competitive edge.

Having more than one passport significantly increases global mobility and opportunities. If you have 2 passport your chances of building wealth multiplied by 10.

Equally important are practical, hands-on skills such as plumbing, carpentry, painting, or other vocational abilities. These skills can sustain you during difficult phases.

I have seen students in Germany & other parts of Europe who could not afford the job search period after graduation and had to return home. If they had practical skills, they could have survived that transition period and eventually secured better opportunities.

4. Right Partner and Role of Parents

Choosing the right life partner is extremely important. The family is the basic unit of society.

If your partner and/or parents are low-achieving/low-IQ or constantly focused on trivial issues, they may distract you from bigger goals with unnecessary conflict & keep occupying with unnecessary conflicts and distractions—for example, arguments over small household issues rather than meaningful priorities.

Strong families focus on ideas, growth, and progress—not petty matters.

I have observed that high-achieving and wealthy families tend to avoid petty discussions. Instead, their conversations revolve around ideas, innovation, and long-term thinking during family gatherings. In many such settings, a significant portion of communication is in English. I once attended a gathering where the family owned a 2-kanal house in F-7, Islamabad, valued at around half a billion rupees. Their son also owned a luxury property in Los Angeles. I noticed that in their drawing room, they had long-standing subscriptions to publications such as The Economist and Time Magazine spanning it for over three decades. They generally do not engage with local tabloids or sensational news sources like Jang, Geo, instead preferring global, analytical perspectives on world affairs.

For boys, instead of focusing primarily on superficial traits such as fair complexion, height, modern dressing, model-like appearance, or family wealth, it is more important to look for deeper qualities such as intelligence, financial understanding, mindset, and the overall upbringing and values of the family.

For girls, beyond other factors, the most important qualities include a genuine spark in boys to achieve big in life, ambition, the ability to handle complex situations, and sincerity toward family values.

Unfortunately, many people take marriage lightly, even though it is one of the most important pillars of society. If children were already fully formed and raised when they arrive in the world, there would be no need for a family structure. This is why the family unit plays such a critical role in shaping individuals & strong punishments for infidelity. A strong family environment plays a major role in shaping future generations.

5. Big Picture Thinking

Always keep the big picture in mind.

Those who are on a larger journey do not get stuck in small disputes.

If there is a disagreement involving small or medium financial matters, it is often better to move on and focus on generating more value rather than wasting years in conflict.

6. Stress on Important Matters

Everyone experiences stress—but it depends on what you choose to stress about.

Some people get deeply disturbed over minor issues like appearance or trivial inconveniences, while ignoring major life concerns.

A better approach is to focus emotional energy on meaningful issues such as life purpose, morality, and long-term goals, rather than small, temporary problems.

7. Constant Learning

One of the key traits of successful individuals and billionaires is continuous learning.

Even after achieving financial success, they keep learning and adapting.

For example, Bill Gates studies quantum computing, and Elon Musk continuously explores rocket science and advanced technologies.

Unfortunately, many people stop learning after small achievements, which limits their growth. Continuous learning should be a habit for both parents and children.

8. Choice of Car and Home

Major lifestyle decisions, such as buying a car or home, can significantly impact financial stability.

Many people make poor vehicle choices—buying either overly old cars that require constant repairs or luxury cars that are expensive to maintain. This creates financial stress & wasting their precious time in repair.

Similarly, choosing the right home and real estate investment requires careful evaluation of long-term value, location, and financial sustainability.

9. Outsourcing Time-Wasting Tasks

Highly successful individuals often delegate minor tasks.

I have observed that highly successful individuals, such as lieutenant generals, admirals, businessmen often operate with dedicated support teams to handle minor and routine issues. Even tasks like managing phone calls are delegated to assistants whose role is to filter information and forward only what is truly important.

They deliberately avoid letting their minds get occupied with trivial matters. Instead, they preserve their mental energy for strategic thinking, major challenges, and high-impact decisions.

Their focus remains consistently on big-picture objectives rather than day-to-day noise.

In order to delegate task, you need money. Chicken and egg problem.

10. Operating Environment

Ultimately, environment plays a critical role in success.

In progressive countries like the US, Japan, and China families provide environments that support growth for future generations.

Similarly, a student who performs well academically often benefits not only from personal effort but also from a supportive home environment that provides peace, stability, and focus.

The ability to outsource household stress and create a productive environment significantly improves learning and performance. Many successful entrepreneurs and professionals succeed because their environment allows them to focus on growth rather than survival.

It is difficult to lead life in Pakistan with a purely strategic, long-term mindset, as the environment often demands constant firefighting due to its volatility. Since its inception, the country has faced periods of instability, and inflation has historically remained high—around 12% on average.

Conclusion

In conclusion, financial independence is not shaped by money management alone, but by a broader set of life skills, environments, and mindset choices. Observation, exposure, relationships, continuous learning, and disciplined decision-making collectively determine long-term outcomes.

REF 1: Sharing my personal journey of FIRE & key lessons
https://www.reddit.com/r/FIREPakistan/comments/1t5lllj/sharing_my_personal_journey_of_fire_key_lessons/

REF 2: How to start a FIRE journey in 2026 with little salary
https://www.reddit.com/r/FIREPakistan/comments/1tbt3io/how_to_start_a_fire_journey_in_2026_with_little/

REF 3: In FIRE journey “It’s Not About Timing the Market — It’s About Time in the Market”
https://www.reddit.com/r/FIREPakistan/comments/1tdrpte/in_fire_journey_its_not_about_timing_the_market/

I sincerely wish that every member of Reddit FIREPakistan becomes a multimillionaire — if not for themselves, then for the next generation.

Excellent work by the person who created this very important subreddit, FIREPakistan.

With reference to the above 3 posts, I strongly encourage everyone to go through them carefully, including all the comments. If you have any questions or doubts, feel free to ask — I will try my best to answer each and every query.

Don’t delay. Just open an account with any reputable broker and start investing, even if it’s only with Rs. 5,000 in any of the 3 out of 7 companies I mentioned. In my second post, I even shared a plan showing how a Yango driver could potentially build a net worth of 20 crore+ by retirement, along with lifelong financial lessons discussed in my first post. In the 3rd post, I explained specifically why I selected these 7 stocks and the reasoning behind each choice.

The 7 companies I mentioned are Shariah-compliant.

Start building wealth today. May Allah bless you and keep you steadfast on your financial journey.

If there’s anything I can help you with, just let me know.

REF 1: Sharing my personal journey of FIRE & key lessons
https://www.reddit.com/r/FIREPakistan/comments/1t5lllj/sharing_my_personal_journey_of_fire_key_lessons/

REF 2: How to start a FIRE journey in 2026 with little salary
https://www.reddit.com/r/FIREPakistan/comments/1tbt3io/how_to_start_a_fire_journey_in_2026_with_little/

Bear with me for the long post, but choosing the right companies to invest in is extremely important.

Every company listed on the PSX has its own dynamics. There is no “one size fits all.”

I believe in the phiolosophy “Larkiyan sari piyari hoti hain, bas kuch zyada piyari hoti hain.” All girls are beautiful; some are simply more beautiful in the eyes of different people. Beauty is subjective. Allah has made a pair for everyone.

In my office, colleagues were arguing over which car was the best — Corolla, City, Prince Pearl, United Bravo, etc. Eventually, they asked for my opinion. I said:

“There is no single car that is best for everyone. If one car were perfect, every company would manufacture only that car.”

Every car has a buyer because different people have different needs, priorities, and perspectives. While all cars may be good, some are objectively better for certain purposes.

The same principle applies to stocks and companies.

Before investing, the first thing you must define clearly is your requirement and objective.

For me, my goal is simple:
I want my children, when they enter professional life, to work because they enjoy their profession — not because they are forced to survive financially.

One thing I deeply fear is the exploitation of labor. I see it everywhere — in workplaces and markets. The rich continue becoming richer while the common worker struggles to receive fair compensation. Most people cannot resist exploitation because they have families to feed and responsibilities to fulfill.

My father used to say:
Our greatest investment is our children, and the best thing we can do is educate them

After my education and exposure to countries like the UK, Hong Kong, USA, China, Taiwan, and several European nations, my conclusion at the age of 40 is this:

Education alone is not enough. Wealth is equally important.

If you give your children only education but no financial foundation, they may still spend their lives struggling for survival. Yes, exceptions exist — someone may build a startup and become a billionaire — but exceptions are not strategies.

I also strongly believe in the concept of FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), especially Barista FIRE — where you continue working because you enjoy your work, not because you are worried about inflation, bills, or financial insecurity.

My Investment Requirement

My aim is to build wealth over the next 30 years through long-term compounding.

Some people may say:

I have 20 lakh today. Which stock will double my money in 6 months?

In my opinion, that is not investing — that is betting (satta).

99% of the time, people lose money unless they are extremely lucky, insiders, or part of powerful market manipulation groups — and even then, they can still fail.

I am personally against putting 20 lakh into the market in one go because nobody truly knows the perfect entry point.

It is not about timing the market.
It is about time in the market.

My strategy is simple:

Invest steadily every month — even if it is only 20k or 25k — but continue consistently for 30 years.

You buy at high prices.
You buy at very high prices.
You buy at low prices.
You buy at very low prices.

Eventually, you average it out.

No one can consistently predict the exact top or bottom because markets are driven heavily by psychology and uncertainty. Averaging is, in my opinion, the best strategy for long-term wealth creation.

Now that the requirement is clear, the next question is:

Which companies are “lambi race ke ghore” — companies built for the long run?

In my personal opinion, more than 90% of PSX stocks are garbage for long-term investing. Many companies import raw material in USD and sell products in PKR. In the long run, currency depreciation destroys them. A time may come when USD crosses 1000 PKR.

Some people may get offended when I call certain companies “kachra stocks,” but that is only from my long-term investing perspective. Those stocks may still be excellent for day trading, speculation, or short-term opportunities.

But I am not interested in betting.

I think like Warren Buffett.

Warren Buffett bought shares of The Coca-Cola Company decades ago and still earns massive dividends today. He bought businesses, not ticker symbols.

That is exactly how I believe investing should be done.

When buying a stock, think as if you are buying the entire company.

Among the companies I mention below, pick 2–3 that you truly believe in. Imagine you had a trillion dollars — which company would you happily own 100% of for the next 30 years?

If its share price dropped from 100 to 1, would you buy every available share in the market?

That is conviction investing.

Ironically, in long-term investing, you should actually pray for lower share prices during your accumulation phase because cheaper prices allow you to buy more shares.

When prices rise sharply, instead of becoming too happy, you should realize:
Now I have to buy fewer shares with the same money.

When prices fall, enjoy the opportunity. You are buying quality assets at bargain prices.

At retirement, what matters is not the share price — it is the number of shares you accumulated.

For example:

• 20,000 shares of Meezan
• 100,000 shares of PABC
• 20,000 shares of Lucky
• 250,000 shares of DCR

Thirty years later, one share of Meezan may itself be worth tens of thousands.

My Thoughts on Different Sectors

Tech Sector

Companies like Systems Limited and NetSol Technologies are good businesses, but I personally do not know what the industry will look like after 10 years because AI may disrupt outsourcing and software services significantly.

These companies largely provide services rather than owning globally dominant products. If AI agents replace outsourced work, the industry could face serious challenges.

So personally, I am cautious about long-term investment in tech.

Power Sector

The future of energy is uncertain. If battery technology becomes extremely cheap, every home may eventually run on solar with battery storage. Traditional utility models could face disruption.

Automobile Sector

The automobile sector is also uncertain. If EV batteries become extremely cheap with 1500+ km backup, the entire industry structure could change dramatically.

Oil & Gas Sector

The main issue with oil and gas companies is that they often show huge cash receivables — a lot of business is done on credit (“udhar wala kaam”). On paper and in financial statements, they may look extremely strong, but the actual cash position can be weak. The sector is also highly cyclical, with major ups and downs, and the long-term future remains uncertain due to the global shift toward electric energy and renewables. On top of that, the industry is heavily regulated by governments. Because of these factors, I am not interested in investing in the oil sector for the long term.

Sectors I Personally Believe In

Cement & Construction

People will always need homes, buildings, roads, and infrastructure. Cement demand is unlikely to disappear.

That is why I believe Lucky Cement is a strong long-term company.

Consumer Staples

People will continue brushing their teeth and using household products for decades.

Colgate-Palmolive and similar businesses sell products that remain relevant regardless of economic cycles. Population growth only increases demand.

Packaging

Pakistan Aluminium Beverage Cans Limited (PABC) has a strong position in the can manufacturing business. As beverage consumption increases, demand for cans should also continue growing over time.

Banking

Meezan Bank pioneered Islamic banking in Pakistan and has delivered exceptional returns over the past decade. Its deposits, branch network, and profitability have consistently grown.

For me, it is one of the strongest long-term investment candidates.

Pharmaceuticals

Highnoon Laboratories has delivered strong long-term performance. Pharmaceuticals benefit from population growth, rising healthcare demand, and exports to regional markets.

Unfortunately, diseases increase with population growth — and so does medicine demand.

REITs / Real Estate

Dolmen City REIT owns premium commercial properties with steady rental income from multinational tenants. Property values and rents tend to rise over time.

For long-term passive income, I consider it attractive.

Fertilizer

With rising population, food demand will only increase. Fertilizer remains an essential industry.

Companies like Fauji Fertilizer Company have historically performed strongly and continue generating solid cash flows and dividends.

Other Reasons

There are hundreds of other reasons why I selected these companies, but it’s impossible to explain everything in a single post. One of the strongest qualities they share is consistent quarterly growth — almost every quarter, they earn more than the previous one. They have strong management (yes I look for the competent/honest team qualified to deal with challanges, nasli/khandani not fasli bateray), transparent operations, and no “hanky-panky” in their business practices.

Another major advantage is that many of these companies operate in sectors where product prices are not tightly regulated by the government, allowing them to pass increased costs on to consumers. Examples include companies like PABC, Colgate and LUCK. Even pharmaceutical companies now have greater pricing flexibility after the recent Supreme Court ruling.

Explaining why I selected only these 7 companies would require several detailed posts. This selection is based on years of research, analysis, and experience. In my view, these are fundamentally strong companies that are very difficult to go wrong with over the long term.

Final Thoughts

To summarize, these are the kinds of companies I personally consider worth holding for the long term.

Yes, there can absolutely be 25–30% declines in the short run. Markets are volatile.

But over decades, quality companies can compound wealth tremendously.

If you consistently reinvest dividends and stay patient, compounding becomes incredibly powerful.

In my opinion, long-term investing is not about becoming rich overnight.
It is about building generational wealth slowly, steadily, and intelligently.

REF: Sharing my personal journey of FIRE & key lessons https://www.reddit.com/r/FIREPakistan/comments/1t5lllj/sharing_my_personal_journey_of_fire_key_lessons/

Based on your comments and feedback, this is my second post in continuation of first post on sharing my personal journey of FIRE & key lessons, I will try to keep it short and answer to your queries so anyone who is willing to learn will get the point.

1. Albert Einstein is famously attributed with calling compound interest "the eighth wonder of the world," declaring, "He who understands it, earns it... he who doesn't... pays it."

2. Now, suppose you start at 20 with a salary of 70K, savings of 3 lac, You deposit 3 lac rupees and every month you put 25k in an account that grows at 16% per annum and you did this consistenly for next 40 years till you achieve the age of 60.
Now explaining the assumption
Why 70K salary, I was going in a car with my family saw a Yango post they need full time driver to e-rickshaw and were offering 70k salary so I choose this amount

Why 16%, average policy rate of Pakistan in 75 years history is 12% companies grow internationally at 4-5% on average, so stock growth on average over a period of 25 years is roughly around 16% so I take 16% as the growth

Why 25k saving that amount from 70k is possible when you live as a single as you grow older with family and kids 25k will feel not much esp after 20-30 and 40 years the value of 25k will not be more than 1k or 2k of now.

So, computing the future value of total investment
Your contribution in 40 years = Rs. 300,000 + Rs. 25,000*12 months*40 years =1.23 crore

Your amount after 40 years (16% annual growth) in 2066 = 18.20 crore

Now, this amount will enought to retire even in 2066 and broke the generation of poverty.

So, how 1.23 crore became 18.20 is the compounding effect.

From where can you gaurantee the growth of 16% annually for 40 years. Stock is one such option you can choose from Meezan Bank, LUCKY, HiNooN, PABC, COLG, DCR, Fauji Fertilizer Any 3 companies from these and every month silently buy and forget 25000 worth of stock that's all you have to do.

If its that easy why can't people break the poverty cycle, its because of poor financial knowledge, lack of patience, almost every Pakistani gets scammed once or twice in life and deprived of life savings

So, gen Z if you can somehow marked yourself safe from scammers, you can built a generational wealth. Stay away from unknown, non reputable, new commers brands in the market like mashreq, magrib, finqalabi, inqalabi, raqmi, shaqmi, waqmi etc etc

Open a stock account from AKD, Arif Habib or any other reputable broker. Fill in the correct details and make a habit of 25k saving every month for 40 years, if your child is born open an account put initial deposit and put 5k per month, child pocket money, eidi, gifts etc when he or she enters university ask him or her to continue doing so 5k, 10k or 15k per month and when he or she graduate from university and enter the field at 25 year already having a worth of 4 crore+ financial freedom to puruse the job he or she like. Thats what rich families in west do start timely and invest and empower their kids no like family barely meeting the months end

Why I mentioned these 7 stocks only? there can be another post on it, the growth of these companies depend on population which is bound to grow in Pakistan. These companies since inception post higher profit every quarter from the previous quarter mostly showing consistent growth and 16% is very reasonable infact these companies previous 25 years history is more than 20% annually which make you end total above 30 crore but I consider only 16%

Why not mutual funds? Mutual funds manage your fund but they take aways at least 3% so your growth will come down from 16% to 13%. Now you will be wondering 3% is not much its ok but its compounding effect in 40 years be like

Your amount after 40 years (13% annual growth) in 2066 = 6.84 crore

So, your fund manager/bank will eat away your 11.36 crore that is the minimum they will eat. In most cases you will barely get 5 crore. Thats why I mentioned mutual fund is a scam go for it for 2-3 years but not more 30-40 years.

Now, another important point
You will be wondering thats what I get around 60 years after retirement or for kids what about for my life, I need car, I need holidays for that you need seperate plan, this minor amount of 25k is invest and forget.
When I was 19 and I studied economic course I learned these concepts and applied in my life my thousands of savings and investments are now compounded in crores, I didn't took the stocks route, I didn't had the knowledge, I went for real estate route, foreign currnecy, gold that was my strategy. There compounding also worked.
If you can manage to buy a undervalued plot on cash that would be great too. But if you consider yourself broke with a monthly salary of say 100k and 150k can't buy gold, plot then stock is the way forward.
If you buy kachra stock then you won't get the growht you win some you loose some at the end of the day you will be back to square one.

Hope I explained you well there is a online calculator called future value calculator you can put the values yourself and get the same answer. All calculations are done via calculator. Anyone can break the poverty trap and take out his or her family considering

1. Marked yourself safe from scam
2. Patience with long term investment of 30 to 40 years in mind

I wish you all the best in your FIRE journey !!!!!!

Dear All

I am about to touch 40 and close to financially independent. Achieving this without fancy salary, mostly earnings in Pakistan is not that easy unless you master the art. I am in academics, associate professor & a family of 5, 3 boys. During my undergrad I studied engineering economics course that opened me world for me then I self studied micro & macro econmics, my masters degree from UK & PhD from Hong Kong is fully on scholarships. I am sharing few lessons for you all to keep note of that and review again & again

1. Start early, during your university days, save and put your money in account, don't go for fancy mobile phones, laptops, watches & dinning & parties

2. No loan policy, don't give loan to anyone neither borrow from anyone, the feeling that you have to collect money asking & reminding people again & again will kill you inside, make a rule no loan!

3. Soon after I graduate in 2008 I got at job @ Rs. 28,000 PM I started saving money more than 60%.I get very sad to hear stories about people who loose money due to scam, cheat & wrong guidance. This world is full of cheat, you have to save yourself. I went to UK for masters there I save few hundred pounds from the stipend, I used to home tuition and started teaching in a college

4. Take control of money. I want to be in control not like giving money to a person, firm & now in a mercy of them. You can have a control if you have money in savings accounts, national savings scheme 100% safe secure & cash anytime. The hard copy certificates are with you unlike investing with MCB, New jubilee with long plans & eventually you get nothing. When I saved few thousand pounds, I invested in 5 Marla plot in bahria town in 2009 installments basis & paying in pounds

5. Within a year I owned that plot worth 9.5 lac at the time and came back to Pakistan in 2010 and salary was around 60k PM, i used to save 25k-30k per month & started buying another plot on installments in bahria town

6. During my 4 years I bought 2nd plot, several to tolas of gold, cash got married first kid & went to Hong Kong for my PhD, so 6 years post graduation I was around 85 lac - 95 lac assets.

7. 4 years at Hong Kong saved some money paid half rest half contributed by parents & bought kanal plot in dha Lahore in 2016

8. At that time I knew only about real estate had no idea about stocks so only gold, real estate was in my mind I came back in 2018 and started teaching salary around 200k

9. In Pakistan you have to take advantage of boom & bust cycle interest rate move from 8% to 18% when rate is 18% move money to bank and when rate is 8% loan, so when rate was 8% I locked it for 5 years & bought Toyota fortuner. Meanwhile saving money in foreign currency, meezan savings bought kanal plots in Multan & Bahawalpur

10. Total assets worth more than 8 cr close to 10 cr which I planned to achieve by age of 40 in nextreal estate boom I hope I will achieve that

11. Now what to do if you just graduate or you are in any stage of life, save some cash and then invest, no loaning money, no shortcuts, just patience, if you have small money open an account in PSX and invest in Meezan Bank, Lucky Cement, Fauji Fertilizer, DCR, Hinoon and PABC. No kachra stocks only those whose growth is based on population that is bound to grow so does these stocks

12. In real estate only buy on ground plots dha see the trend on zameen visit on ground buy undervalued & sell at right time

13. Learn finance, econmics, interest rate stuff don't throw money on files, apartments scam, or any agency which promise you unreasonable gain. 15% is ok anyone promising doubling in a year or so run away

14. Got married Early, I got married at 25 & it opened new avenues i can't imagine with every kid there are more sources & rising trend

15. Take MIT, Harvard etc free courses, invest in yourself up skill & learn from experts of top universities. Earn save invest keep life simple stay committed & sincere to your family you will grow IA and become financially independent stress free and enjoy your time.

Wishing you all the best.