How true the saying "no pain, no gain"? Absolutely, in fact, if you're Prapas Tonpibulsak.

The chief investment officer of Ayudhya Fund Management says he learned his fair share at the schools he attended, but none offered the kind of lessons _ not all _ that nice bag of Thailand has given him.

As a teenager in Chumphon, Thailand's southern province, was like many of his peers, with limited awareness of events happening around him. Even when they arrived in Bangkok to study finance and banking at the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce, has found life quite convenient, its objectives were not known.

That will soon change. As a senior student, has started to become curious about what he was reading on the stock market. Began to take ideas. Just two weeks before Black Monday in 1987, he borrowed his parents' money and put everything in the stock market. The result has kissed goodbye all the money.

"Well, if you ask how much money I lost then I would say that the value of four Mercedes-Benzes, guidemoney.info / Mercedes-Benzes.htm" he says with a smile.

Although the experience was unbearably painful for 20 years, says in retrospect that was a priceless lesson.

"Suddenly I realized how volatile and unstable stock market was. And how much and how deeply one needs to study to eliminate or at least _ to manage risks. This is the hardest thing you should do," says Mr. Prapas, now 40.

The personal crisis to strengthen its determination to recover his losses. This then led to new and real-world investment. He began to read everything on the field, and found a hero author Benjamin Graham.

After completing a degree, he pursued an MBA degree in finance from Wagner College in New York, where he spent most of his days in classes, his nights watching financial and investment news on television, and his weekend Barnes & Noble bookstores looking for books for analyzing securities. Soon, he had a clear objective in mind.

"I want to be financially independent at age 60 with 200 million baht 5 million U.S. dollars in savings," he says shyly, then smiles.

Returning to Thailand, started as a stock analyst at Securities One for two years and two years at One Asset Management as fund manager.

Following the 1997 crisis, he went home to help solve problems of family business. A few years later he was back in Bangkok as a financial consultant specializing in debt restructuring in several major companies before joining Ayudhya Fund Management.

When asked about views on personal finance, says, "It 's something that's related to the commitment and responsibility in life, that change with the life cycle of an individual is. It's about setting goals and setting an action plan get there. It 's the same thing as doing business. "

Therefore, its objectives have changed in relation to changes in his life. Today, his ambition to be financially independent must also include the needs of his wife and three children.

For those setting a savings goal, after a withdrawal, we recommend that future work by now, taking the monthly or annual costs, inflation and interest rates into account.

"They need to do the math to find out how much they need each month to save or invest to get back the amount or who wish to have at retirement. "

Currently, 10% of its investment portfolio is in equities and fixed income funds including long-term equity and retirement mutual funds, while the majority of 80% to 90% in real estate.

To achieve its objective, the portfolio needs to generate a return of at least 12% annually.

"The key, and the most important thing is that investors should be able to know what are the risks and manage them well," he concludes.