From ₹10,000 to ₹13.9 lakh: How a 15-yr-old Bengaluru student built her investment portfolio

A 15-year-old Bengaluru student has built an investment portfolio worth nearly ₹13.9 lakh while studying in Class X and now wants to make financial literacy accessible to one million students across India.

Sinchana Santosh, a student at Swargarani School in RR Nagar, Bengaluru, told Power Up Money that she began her financial journey by saving money in a piggy bank. Her early interest in saving gradually developed into a deeper understanding of investing, personal finance and wealth creation.

From piggy bank to portfolio

Sinchana said she had saved around ₹10,000 in her piggy bank by the age of 12. “For me, ₹10,000 felt like a huge amount at that age. I remember feeling proud every time I added money to my piggy bank and watched it grow slowly,” she said.

She added that the experience taught her the importance of regular saving. “Even small amounts can become useful if you save consistently. I think that was probably my first real lesson in money — that saving gives you the freedom to plan and buy something you really want,” she said.

Her parents, Santosh Kumar and Keerthi Raykar, encouraged her to understand the value of money. When Sinchana wanted to buy a telescope, her father asked her to contribute towards the purchase. She raised ₹10,000 from relatives, while her parents contributed the remaining ₹2,000.

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Investing under parental supervision

Sinchana currently manages her portfolio under her parents’ supervision. Her investments are spread across equities and mutual funds in Indian and international markets.

She has set a seven-year investment horizon, with the goal of using the money to fund her master’s education. She also follows a personal framework called “GDP” — Growth, Direct and Passive — while selecting mutual funds.

"GDP mantra helps me to identify the right type of fund to invest in. It’s a simpler way to remember,” Sinchana said. She prefers growth-orientated funds because she does not need the money immediately, direct plans to reduce intermediary costs and passive funds that track benchmark indices.

She has also completed two NISM certifications and one SEBI certification. She said YouTube was an important resource in learning about personal finance and investing.

Using games to teach money lessons

Sinchana’s interest in experiential learning extends beyond investing. At 14, she created “ITIHASA – The Royal Game”, a history-based card game based on the NCERT syllabus. She has donated 170 game sets to 36 government schools in Bengaluru and trained school principals to use them.

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She is now developing a strategy-based financial card game covering budgeting, banking, interest, inflation, investing, insurance, credit, debt, risk and fraud awareness.

Her broader ambition is to train one million students in financial literacy and help young people understand money through interactive learning rather than only classroom theory.