Girish (35) and Geeta (33) Iyer live in their own comfortable 3 bed room apartment in Bangalore, with their two children Shweta (7) and Arjun (5). Girish was until recently a senior vice president of a promising tech firm, which recently got acquired by a US major. He received Rs. 3 crores (post-tax) from his stock options as a consequence of the takeover, but does not find place in the merged entity's new scheme of things. He is therefore evaluating options at the moment, and is quite inclined to start up his own tech firm.

Geeta is a senior manager at an FMCG major in Bangalore, with a promising career ahead of her. Her monthly salary (pre-tax) works out to around Rs. 350,000. Last year, she received a performance bonus (pre-tax) of Rs. 12,50,000.

Shweta and Arjun study at a reputed international in Bangalore. Girish and Geeta are keen that they pursue the IB course and then go overseas for higher education.

Geeta is not very happy with Girish's entrepreneurial interest, and would much rather see him back in a job like the last one, where he earned a monthly pre-tax salary of Rs. 600,000 and a bonus last year (pre-tax) of Rs. 19,00,000. She believes expenses will only mount from hereon, and a steady income will keep them free of anxieties. A start-up will mean no income for some time, then an uncertain income. Worse still, what if Girish starts burning up, for his start-up, some of the money he received from his stock options?

Girish believes that while he can get a similar job, its really time for him to do something big. He is confident about his plans, but understands Geeta's anxieties. He however believes that the Rs. 3 crore that he received should be a good buffer, until he starts making serious money from his new business idea. He concedes however that his income from now on will be volatile, at least until his business stabilizes. He knows that he needs to find a way to adequately address Geeta's anxieties before he can finally take that entrepreneurial plunge he is so keen on.

Geeta and Girish turn to you, their financial advisor, to guide them through this tricky situation. You know that their monthly expenses (excluding school fees) are currently around Rs. 150,000, and another Rs.100,000 towards EMI on their home loan. They are also keen travellers and have been spending around Rs. 10 lakhs a year on overseas vacations. Neither is really keen to consider any sacrifices in their current lifestyle. Besides this, both Girish and Geeta unfailingly send Rs. 25,000 per month each to their respective parents, to help them provide for some comforts and the odd luxury that their pension incomes can't provide for.

Their financial portfolio is currently worth Rs. 76 lakhs in equity funds, with monthly SIPs of Rs. 100,000 across two equity funds (Rs. 50,000 in each). There is also another SIP of Rs. 100,000 per month that you have got them to invest in a short term bond fund, which is routinely drawn down each year to fund their annual holidays. Each year, a good portion of their annual bonuses were being invested into equity funds, through STPs, which is what has enabled the portfolio to grow to Rs. 76 lakhs. You have separately parked the Rs. 3 crores that Girish received in liquid funds, pending investment decisions.

Apart from the portfolio, both have around Rs. 5 lakhs each in their savings accounts. You have given both of them term plans of Rs. 1 crore each. They haven't taken any health insurance as their respective companies took care of that.

In terms of liabilities, the only one they have is around Rs. 50 lakhs that is the outstanding principal on the home loan they took for their house.

What will your advice to Girish and Geeta be about Girish's entrepreneurial desire? Please support your answer with necessary numbers and plans. You are aware that beyond numbers, there are conflicting aspirations that also need to be sensitively handled.