r/FIREPakistan

Hi, I'm a 19M who's about to inherit around 1m worth of 22Karat gold.

Monthly income is 25K & expected to increase in coming months. Have about 100K ish in stocks at the moment

I'm at a crossroads right now, stuck between 2 choices.

1 - Putting a down payment on a used alto & financing the rest for 2-3 years. I'll be using this vehicle for commuting to university with a daily travel would be about 120 kms.

I plan on covering the monthly installment & fuel cost will be covered with a monthly income & carpooling service for 2-3 people. There's a big community of carpooling I'm in so finding customers is not really an issue

2- Put the million in blue chip dividend paying companies & invest the dividend every quarter.

If I go with this option, I'll have to take a bus from my residence for half distance then take a bike to my uni & vice versa.

One thing I know for sure, this path would be extremely exhausting & will waste my time I could be spending on working part time & learning

My parents are insisting on me getting a car as travelling on bike is not safe due to traffic & law and order situation in Karachi

Need advice & opinions on what I should potentially do in this situation

Tl;dr 19 male, inheriting 1m worth of gold. The daily commute to uni is 120kms both ways, should I get a car OR invest all the capital in stocks. Covering the fuel cost & installment is not a big of a problem

Just the question.

hi!

i have some USD in my wallets that have been sitting idle for some time now. apart from some of it, i want to exchange the amount to PKR and then park it in a money market fund [shariah compliant]. the timeline for parking it is not decided now. it could be 2 to 3 months or longer [dependent on the fact that i may have to make a big purchase in the upcoming months].

i have been eyeing the UBL al ameen money market fund. however when i went to the bank and got talking to the manager, they suggested UBL Ameen Zindagi Account (AZA) which i can make with my father and get a good return instead of a mutual fund.

so i guess im looking for suggestions here. i would have kept this in mahaana but i have the basic account there and have my emergency fund there.

i do want to add that apart from initial investment, going forward i will be adding a fixed amount to it every month.

Salam / Hello All,

Read a recent post of a somewhat similar condition for seeking advice from a user, so i thought may the community knowledge can guide me as well.

I am a non-resident since mid 2015, working outside Pakistan. I didn't keep an active check for filing tax returns since that time. Honestly i wasn't very well aware of the information that needs to be filled in , even if I am not employed in Pakistan with salary income.

I had the shares and mutual funds investment for past some years however I never correctly posted the income earned in the tax return form due to unclear knowledge, assuming that since I don't have salary income I don't need to fill in the rest.

Have submitted some tax returns in the past years with zero income and without wealth statement just to ensure I am in ATL as on 30th June. Similarly didn't keep an active record of bank accounts closing balances as on 30th June with remittances.

As i know if I would head for buying car or real estate or the likes, now I need to declare the source of income and correct record for previous years in case i need to prove the legibility of the source of funds.

I need advice for the following or recommendation of some reputable reliable tax advisor to guide a structured approach and also to handle FBR correspondence if any in the future - havent received any yet (not the people only who offer services in filing tax return for the year).

1. How to and for how long do I need to correct the record in the past. I may not be able to get very old data from banks very easily or online, takes follow up in person being in Pakistan.

2. How long in the past is it allowed to edit and update the previous records on IRIS.

3. I may have some FRC (Foreign Remittance/Proceed Realization Cert) from banks in past years, however getting very old FRCs is not possible from the banks as I checked.

4. Is there any exemption from this process for Overseas Pakistanis.

5. Have always heard mixed opinions about it. Is it mandatory for Overseas Pakistani to declare wealth statement - as reconciling the wealth statement for the past years is going to be very cumbersome.

6. Is it recommended to declare foreign assets/income/expenses in wealth statement converted in PKR or only the money held in Pakistan needs to be declared.

Thanks for your views and guidance, i am sure it will help OSPs like myself for similar questions.

Posting on behalf of my mom who is an overseas Pakistani (in Canada) with nicop

She is to get a large sum via inheritance but we are having trouble to figure out what kind of bank account to open that will enable repatriation of funds to Canada

We read on Roshan digital account but it seems that this account would not meet our needs

Help / suggestions appreciated!

So, I've been actively trying to start investing. I have been working for 3 years now, but I made my first investment last year only because I didn't have much financial literacy, nor did I have people with such interests around me.

So I invested 150k in gold in 2025, and then slowly, I started learning about finances and money market, and I kept investing in gold from time to time. Since I had little to no experience, I think I bought gold at wrong times, and now the gold prices have severely crashed.

Don't know what to do, right now I'm in loss. Should I keep investing in gold or look for other options.?

I read an article that psx is currently on a high.. so is this a good time to invest?

I'm a beginner (less than 2 weeks since I created my account on finqalab) and I've put in like 3k in random stocks 🥹

scared I might do something wrong in my impulsivity 🙏🏻

should I wait ?

Edit: yes I'm in this for the long term. Risk appetite (low to medium)

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for honest advice because I feel like I'm stuck financially and don't know what I'm doing wrong.

I'm currently working as a Payroll Supervisor and earn PKR 80,000 per month. I know this is low for my role, and I've been actively trying to switch jobs. I've had several interviews but haven't been able to secure an offer yet. I suspect my salary expectations may be one of the reasons.

I have a family of five—my wife and three school-going children. Around 50% of my salary goes toward their school fees. The school is a decent middle-tier school, and I don't want to move them because it's close to our home and they're settled there.

I'm also paying PKR 25,000 per month in a BC/committee. On top of that, I have four credit cards with outstanding balances, and the repayments, which are around 20,000 per month, have become a major burden.

The biggest issue is that I recently calculated my finances and realized my monthly expenses are around PKR 120,000, while my income is only PKR 80,000. That leaves me PKR 40,000–50,000 short every month. To cover the gap, I've borrowed money from friends and relatives at different times, and now I owe approximately PKR 500,000 in personal loans as well.

Because of this cycle, I'm struggling to cover even my family's basic needs.

I'm trying to improve my situation instead of just complaining. Since I finish work at 4:30 PM, I'm also actively looking for a part-time evening job to increase my income.

About me:

• Education: bcom
• Currently enrolled in M.A. Economics (Karachi University)
• Experience: Payroll/HR

I'd really appreciate your thoughts on these questions:

• What mistakes do you think I'm making?
• Should I stop participating in the BC/committee?
• How should I tackle my credit card debt and personal loans?
• Are there any payroll, HR, or accounting certifications that could help me earn more?
• What part-time or freelance work would you recommend for someone with my background?

I recognize I need to make changes and am open to candid feedback that will help me resolve this situation. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I'm currently developing a model with certain attributes and models that would capture the Pakistani landscape and suggest stocks for medium to long term. The directive accuracy would be 60-70 percent with beating KSE by 10-15 percent. The model is ready. I need the APIs of Capital stake to further test and train the model for 15 years of data and financial landscape. It has various other functions too like web scraping and crawling that would fetch the real time data from PSX, Sarmaya and Investify with RSS news feed.

Anybody here from the Capital stake team.

My retired father has savings of about 6.2 million which is currently parked in Meezan bank savings account. The payout is not very desirable. This month he received around 34k profit, of which 6800 was deducted as tax which I think, is around 20%. I have thought about moving the money to MCF but I don't know if it would be a good choice. I want an option where he can get maximum shariah compliant monthly income on his savings.I am still learning about investments, so my knowledge is limited when it comes to making the best decision for my father.

I am a salaried individual and recently created my Iris account to file my taxes for the very first time.

As soon as I registered, I received automated system notices to file for the previous 5 years. I went ahead and filed the returns for all of those past years. However, when I went to have my name added to the Active Taxpayers List (ATL) for 2025, I was hit with a massive shock. Instead of the historical PKR 1,000 late surcharge for individuals, the system is now demanding PKR 25,000 just to activate my status!

I am absolutely not willing to throw away 25k of my hard-earned salaried income just for a late-filing penalty on a first-time registration. What are my options here? What should I do?

Also, how does this affect the upcoming FY 2025-26? If I file my returns completely on time for this next cycle, will my name automatically appear on the ATL for 2026 without me having to pay this insane past surcharge?

I honestly don't understand why the government is actively punishing and discouraging citizens who want to enter the tax net. This is incredibly disheartening.

Is CDC Investor account (opened after CDC Access account in that portal) only for holding of shares or could it be used for trading activities too? What basically is the rationale behind it.

Most of my savings are in al meezan investments. Across mcf, miif, ammf. So low medium and high.

I do not know much about all the different types of funds and taxes and when which is performing better etc.

I have a small amount in psx via KTrade (a few lacs at most)

...

I asked my meezan advisor if they offered any managed service. Where they could move my money from fund to fund based on whatever was performing the best. I could invest in any default fund monthly and they would balance out my portfolio to maximize profits. However they said that they do not offer any such service

So now I'm wondering, does anyone ask you offer something like this? Obviously they have to be trusted. Whether it be on PSX or in some other amc

...

Before you say that I should do it myself, I honestly do not want the headache and the stress of repeatedly checking stock prices and fund prices on top of my already busy work schedule.

I am selling a property and I will be an active filer soon , however the person who is buying is insisting on paying the FBR value of immovable property as a pay order but all the rest in cash.

Furthermore, everywhere I go to buy a property I am also hammered by the expectation of paying fbr value in pay order and rest in cash.

I have always paid full with pay order(paid every relevant tax)and I have detailed transactions records of every income and expense on how the property was bought.

What should I do since the difference between the FBR value and market value is significant?

If I deposit the entire value in my bank account in cash will that invite trouble for me.

Frankly this might be my last sale/purchase of property as there is unprecedented amounts of cash dealing which I am frankly not comfortable with.

I'm looking to improve my trading knowledge and I'm considering structured learning rather than relying solely on free resources. For those who have taken Syed Faraz’s Trading Mastery, what made it worthwhile (or not)? are there any red flags to avoid?

I’d appreciate any honest reviews or experiences.

Hi everyone
Hope all of you are doing great
I have been planning to invest in mutual funds for quite a while now but have no clarity on how to do it, what are the repercussions if any, and what are the hidden costs that most people are unaware of.
I would be grateful if you guys could take me as a 5 year old and explain to me how this works, how to invest, where to invest, and what factors to consider. I am married and 28 years old. I want something on the side which i can get after 25-30 years for the safety of my future kids.
Investing in mutual funds includes investing in the stock market or safer less risky assets right? What if i want to invest in stable dividend giving large corporations of Pakistan.
Kindly do help me out
Would be greatly helpful

Hello All. Here is a brief overview of my Financial holdings.

1. Liquid cash - (House hold expense + immediate cash availability for old parents)

2. Meezan Kafalah - PKR 1m locked for 10 years - Started back in 2024 or 2025. Hasn't really grown as far as I understand myself

3. UBL AICP -1 - PKR 1.9m secondary saving bucket to stay liquid but still make some money on the idle cash

4. UBL VPS - PKR 20k per month till I hit 60 - Retirement bucket. Currently a little under 500k (most volatile over everything else)

My risk profile is low - medium for most of my investment. I cannot risk losing my savings to quick gains so I don't mind a steady growth.

Except the VPS since that's riding the 23 year future predictions. Whatever happens. Happens.

I'm not in PSX yet but I would like to. I can bring my liquid cash down to PKR 1.0m max and take some of the money to Dividend stocks for holding.

Ultimate goal? Buy a house/apt and leave something for my family behind me. No, I'm not dying yet but isn't that what all Men want to do who are building themselves from the ground up! LOL.

What do the experts here suggest I do to optimize this further? Improve it somehow?