* The aim of this series is to provide a small investor in Karachi with a strategy so that he/she can comfortably invest his/her money. This should by no means be construed as professional advice, and you are advised to follow it at your own risk. *

With the prices of everyday stuff in Karachi going up (130 rupees per kilogram for TOMATOES!???), it has become very difficult for salaried individuals and small businessmen to keep up their everyday expenses, let alone be able to save a good amount of money to someday buy their dreamhouse or go on a dream vacation. Because of the financial pressure, everything is being financed by credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, etc. If you come down and think it through, the buy-now-pay-later scheme ends up costing you a lot more in the long run. If you think a Honda Civic at 12 lakhs is expensive, get a 5 year auto-loan and find out that it ends up costing you more than 20 lakhs, and after 5 years is probably worth not more than 5 lakhs. Invest that same amount of money for 5 years, and you will find that the 12 lakhs you put in have turned into more than 20 lakhs, netting you a Civic on cash with plenty of cash leftover.

A little bit of planning and budgeting in the monthly expenses will give most of us some breathing room. Some of us might find we can save 1,000 rupees per month. Others with hefty paychecks might be able to save 10,000 rupees or more per month. The point to take home is that just saving and keeping the money in the bank is not enough. We need to learn to put money in the proper place, so that later in life we can stop working for money because our money is working for us.

The main aim of this series will be to approach investments available to a Karachiite, taking into consideration 2 factors:
- Money to be invested
- Investment horizon

Money to be invested:
We will give advice to 3 different groups:
- People able to save 500-1,000 rupees per month
- People able to save 1000 – 5,000 rupees per month
- People able to save more than 5,000 rupees per month

Investment horizon:
Again, 3 different groups:
Short term: Will use the money within a year
Medium term: Plan to use the money between 1-5 years
Long term: Plan to use the money at least after 20 years or more

Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome. Please keep your comments relevant to the topic, or they will be deleted/censored.