The ₹1.2 crore lesson behind Koshfin
Hi, I’m the person behind Koshfin, and the “Kosh” in our Kosh & Fin comics. I started in the stock market in 2014 knowing nothing. By 2024, gambling on futures and options had left me with about ₹1.2 crore of debt and EMIs bigger than my salary. Koshfin is everything I wish someone had explained to me at the start, in plain English, for free.
2014: I didn’t know what a share was
I opened a trading account with zero knowledge. I thought a share’s face value was the price it first listed at. I’d see a ₹10 face value next to a ₹2,000 share price and think the people who bought at ₹10 had got lucky, and that I’d missed my chance. In reality, face value is just a fixed accounting number; nobody bought that share at ₹10 on listing day. I didn’t know what an IPO was either. At an inter-college competition I even said stock trading was “dinner table discussion”.
What I’d read first today: What is a share? Face value vs market price and How IPOs work.
2014–15: making money on tips
I made decent money on recommendations from friends and relatives, without knowing why they recommended anything. The market was kind, so luck looked like skill.
Lesson: a tip is not research. See 10 stock market mistakes beginners make.
2015–16: the part that went right
During my MBA I learnt to read quarterly results and balance sheets: revenue growth, margins, profit, debt and cash flow. My stock picks improved, and I doubled my money in 2015–16. For a while, I was doing the right thing.
Lesson: How to read quarterly results and Balance sheet and cash flow basics.
2017: futures and options, with no idea how they worked
In 2017 I was introduced to futures and options (F&O). My entire understanding was: if a stock will go up, buy a call; if it will go down, buy a put. What I didn’t understand:
- Leverage. A small premium controls a much bigger position, so small price moves become huge percentage gains or losses.
- Options can go to zero. An option loses value as expiry nears, and can be worth nothing if the move doesn’t come.
- Results are a coin toss. The share price already reflects what the market expects. Even good results can push a share down.
November 2017: the weekend that ruined me
Titan’s quarterly results were due on a Friday. I bought about ₹1 lakh of Titan call options before the announcement. The results were excellent. Between Friday and Monday, I made about ₹6 lakh. My CTC at the time was ₹4.5 lakh a year.
I blew most of it. I bought a bike and two expensive watches, and went on a big trip. I saved only a couple of lakhs.
That weekend was the worst thing that ever happened to me, because it convinced me I was good at this.
Early 2018: the first loan
At the next quarterly results I played the same game, but bigger: about ₹5 lakh of options. This time the stock fell around 10%. Leveraged options don’t fall 10% when the stock does; most of my money was gone. Instead of accepting the loss, I took my first loan so nobody would see it. Looking back, that was the day it stopped being trading.
2018–2024: from trading to gambling addiction
Every loss had to be won back before anyone found out, so every loss meant a bigger bet. Results-day bets, bigger positions, then loans to cover the last loans. To keep anyone at home from noticing, I kept spending at the same rate as before, which meant even more borrowing.
By then it had nothing to do with markets, analysis or anything I’d learnt in my MBA. It was pure gambling addiction.
By 2024 I owed about ₹1.2 crore, and my EMIs were more than my monthly salary. I come from a normal middle-class family where a few lakhs was serious money. ₹1.2 crore is an amount no one in my family had ever seen. The hardest part isn’t the money. It’s watching the people around me carry the worry with me every day.
I wasn’t unusual, either. SEBI found that over 91% of individual F&O traders lost money in FY25. More in Investing vs trading, and why F&O is so risky.
2025: stopping
In 2025 I stopped completely and started seeing a psychologist for gambling addiction. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made. The EMIs are still there, and I’m working my way out, one month at a time.
Why Koshfin exists
To rebuild, I’m trying a few different hustles alongside my job. Koshfin is one of them, and the one I care about most, because it turns my mistakes into something useful for you.
- Learn. Plain-English guides, including a free 14-lesson stock market course that starts exactly where I did.
- Tools. Calculators for EMIs, tax, salary and savings.
- Credit cards and loans. Honest comparisons, with the downsides on every page.
- Kosh & Fin. Comics where Kosh (me) explains money to Fin, who is basically me in 2014.
If you’re where I was
If you’re chasing losses, borrowing to trade, or hiding it from your family, please stop and tell someone today. Talking to a psychologist helped me more than any strategy ever did.
How you can help
Koshfin only works if people find it useful. Use it, share it with one person who needs it, and tell me what to fix. Thank you for reading this far.
What you will find on Koshfin
Why “Koshfin”?
In Sanskrit and several Indian languages, “Kosh” means a treasury: a careful collection of wealth and knowledge. Add “Fin” for finance, and you have our mission: to be a trusted store of financial clarity.
Money is full of jargon, fine print and sponsored hype. We cut through it so you can see how things actually work before you decide.
How we work
- Numbers first. We show fees, rates and rewards side by side so you can compare for yourself.
- Independent. Our guides and comparisons are written by us. No company pays to change what we say.
- Open about money. Some links are affiliate links. If you apply through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our rankings. Read our Affiliate Disclosure.
- Education, not advice. We explain options; we do not give personal financial advice. Always check the latest terms with the provider.
Who runs Koshfin
Koshfin (koshfin.com) is an independent personal-finance website for India, started in 2026 and run by the Koshfin Team. Koshfin is a website only: it is not a bank, lender, NBFC or financial advisor, and it does not take deposits, give loans or issue cards itself.
Not to be confused with: Koshfin.com is not connected to Koshfin Technologies and Services Private Limited, or to any other company with a similar name.
Follow Koshfin on LinkedIn, Instagram and X (@KoshfinIndia).
Rates, fees and offers change often. We update our pages regularly, but the provider’s own website is the final word.