A first hand account from Investwise Finance Founder, Harsh Shah
I never thought I would write a blog, but I learned that someone’s story motivates another, and here I am. So many teenagers and college students have asked me how I developed my analytical mind, and how I manage to have an expertise over numbers. Today I’m sharing my personal story of wealth creation.
Good things take time – and effort… and failure, and dedication, and getting back up. There’s a famous saying, ‘fall down seven times, rise up eight’. That’s my story too.
Getting into an investing business or financial consulting was never the obvious choice for me. I learned from my family, and early hardships of elders that working for money our entire life isn’t always possible. So while we have the ability to earn, we should invest consistently and meaningfully. It motivates me to know that investments have the ability to give long-term financial freedom. The idea is that when we get to a stage where we can no longer actively work, our investments should support our lifestyle with confidence and offer us independence.
Did I start out in this field?
No, I did not start my career directly in this field. I have worked across diverse sectors over the years, and while industries and working styles kept changing, one thing remained constant—investing. Through years of hands-on experience and a consistent investment track record with a medium-risk approach, my confidence in investing grew. That conviction eventually led me to pursue investing as a larger and more meaningful part of my professional life.
My early learnings about Money
These learnings came from real-life experience. I have seen how difficult life can be without money, and that reality became a strong motivator for me to work hard. Earning money is never easy, especially when you start from zero—or even from a deficit, as I did. That journey taught me the true value of money, how challenging it is to earn, and how important it is to save something after meeting basic expenses. This is why I’ve always believed—and said for over a decade—that the first million is the hardest to achieve.
What I learned from family life related to Money
From my family life, I learned the importance of living simply. A comfortable and meaningful life does not require excessive spending. Avoiding envy and unnecessary comparison goes a long way in saving money. When you consciously save through a simple lifestyle and invest those savings wisely, wealth creation becomes much faster and more sustainable in the long run.
Compounding and its impact
That’s one of my most favourite things to talk about. I am a strong believer in the magic of compounding. Reading the works of investors like Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham has given me deep insight into its power. When you truly analyze the numbers over long periods, the impact of compounding can seem almost unreal. However, the real magic is experienced only by staying invested patiently over time—compounding cannot be understood fully in theory, it has to be lived.
This isn’t the end of the discussion, there’s more to it. Hold on for another week or two to read a little more about hard-earned investing lessons from an industry insider.
