Wealthy Wednesdays: What investment strategy works for me?

20 years ago, in my prime working years, I had to juggle my income to first meet essential household and personal expenses and then to repay loan instalments. Although it was impossible to put away substantial amounts as savings, because I strove to restrict expenditure consciously, I could manage to build reasonable amounts over 3-6 months, which went into either bank fixed deposits or mutual funds.

If I was not clear about my goals or needs like emergencies, I would use bank fixed deposits. For long-term investments, like my son's education, investments were made in mutual funds where the need would arise after 10 years or so. I chose about 3-4 schemes. I also invested an amount in an insurance company's child plan, although the target amount was paid by the company, the return seemed to be low in hindsight. It could have been better if that amount too were kept in mutual funds.

Now that I have retired, my needs are different. Now, I have to see that the retirement corpus that I received was invested so that I was assured of regular income to meet future needs. I have preferred bank deposits because although the return would not be inflation proof, the payouts are regular and fixed. I don't have to worry about income each month. For higher returns and to meet other unscheduled needs, I have investments in mutual funds. At this stage in my life, I don't save for a future need; but use my savings judiciously so that all reasonable desires are met and not postponed.
–Parvathi Krishnan, Ex Banker

I have a recurring deposit (RD) and a mutual fund (MF). The maturity amount of the RD goes into a fixed deposit (FD). It works for me, because if I don't put it aside in a fixed form like an RD or MF, I will spend it. So, I prefer having an auto debit made from my Savings Account for the necessary amount, and have the funds directed to the RD or MF in concern.
–Claudelle Monis, Cultural Affairs Professional

I invest in shares and mutual funds and I make sure I invest at least 50% of my income, which is possible now since I don't have to spend much at home. Initially I used to invest in gold when I had enough savings. I do so even now if I have extra money. My goal is to be able to purchase a house, so I started investing beforehand and luckily I also had enough money to invest else where. Now, since I'm a consultant, I need to plan with what I have in hand and can't plan much in advance. So I invest in safe shares–it is a one-time investment and when I need the money I sell them off. So that's how it benefits me. I also invest in mutual funds, where I have a fixed amount that goes every month and the returns I get are a good 25 to 30%. 
–Akshaya V Kawle, Image Consultant and NLP Practitioner

I'm usually not too sure about how to invest so I typically pick investments that are tax saving such as insurance policies, fixed deposits, mediclaim etc. I prefer safe investments that have maybe lesser but guaranteed returns. 
–Christina Moniz, Corporate Communications Assistant Manager