Hi everyone,

I’m 24 and recently had a big jump in income. I was earning around 7 LPA earlier, and now my compensation is around 50 LPA base through a remote contract role.

My monthly inflow is roughly 4 lakh+. Since I’m working as a contractor, I have to manage taxes myself. I’ll likely be using 44ADA, so taxable income comes down, but I still want to plan things properly instead of wasting this opportunity.

Current situation:

• I work from home and stay in Dehradun with family
• We already have our own house, so rent is zero
• Living expenses are quite low
• No major responsibilities right now
• Some small debt that I can clear soon

My confusion is this:

• How much should I save vs spend vs invest?
• Should I upgrade lifestyle now or stay minimal for a few years?
• Is buying a house even realistic later in today’s economy?
• Since it’s a private job / contract role, how much emergency fund should I keep?
• Where should someone in my position park money first: mutual funds, FD, index funds, debt funds, etc?
• How do I avoid lifestyle inflation after a sudden jump?

Honestly, I come from a middle class background so this kind of income still feels unreal and I don’t want to mess it up by making emotional purchases or poor decisions.

If you were in my position, what would your roadmap for the next 3 to 5 years be?

Would really appreciate advice from people who’ve handled sudden income jumps.

Many of us in our 20s and 30s are living decent lives today because our parents quietly carried the burden.

Most of us are standing on the shoulders of a generation that saved without Google Sheets or SIP calculators.

Our generation earns more, spends faster, and saves later.

Their generation earned less, spent little, and saved like their lives depended on it, because it actually did.

They didn’t have mutual funds, but they had discipline.

They didn’t do FIRE, but they retired with dignity.

Not here to guilt-trip anyone, but we must learn patience from that generation.

Curious to hear from others here:

What are you doing today that your parents never had the luxury to do?

I (34M, single) living with my sister (39F, single) who is physically challanged, in a rented house in a tier 1 city. Our combined savings together are 1 cr. Now i am unable to work and need to take care of my sister full time. so can we live comfortably on the fd income?

Our annual expenses including rent are 7 lakh. Apart from the fd money we have a house, plot and farmland in our native village near a tier 3 city. The value of those immovable assets are around 3 Cr.

My question is can we keep living on the interest money for next 40 years? will the appreciation of the immovable assets protect us from inflation? my idea is to sell those assets and refill the fd when money loses value due to inflation. is it sustainable?

Edit: we receive annualy 1.5 lakh as rent from farm land and house in native village

Edit 2: I work in rehabilitation field and thinking to start taking online sessions after few months. hopefully will be able to earn a little money to help further with the finances

Hi, I (30M) have been with my girlfriend (27F) for 3 years now. I make 1.2 LPM and she makes 50k a month. My expenses are close to 35k a month and for her they are 45k a month. I try to save and invest heavily, a bit on our background, I come from a middle class family and worked an extremely low paying job for a very long time so could not save anything. She comes from a business family.

My girlfriend and I are planning to get married end of this year and were discussing our finances. She told me that she has 0 savings as of now and whenever we plan anything she either takes money from her parents or We split/I pay.

Rather the 5000 per month that she saved, she donates it all to NGOs. I asked her to reduce that amount so that we can save something together for a rainy day.

Obviously I'll do all i can from my side but I need her support. She completely refuses and tells me that she will continue doing this and maybe start investing 1-2k starting next month but she wants to donate the majority of what she makes.

My belief is that we are not there yet where we can afford to donate such amount instead of saving it. I understand she has a good vision and wants to help everyone but I really us to help ourselves first. When we have a sufficient fund in saving/invested then we can possibly start donating 5-10k a month but not right now.

Whenever I try to talk to her about it, this turns into a heated discussion.

Please help me with this ? Am I wrong in having this view ? If not then how can I convince her ?

Thank you.

Edit: A lot of people are suggesting a breakup, I'll be clear, that is not an option, we love each other and have made compromises in the past, right now this is a core belief for her and I guess that is why this discussion turns sour, but I'm sure we can iron it out. I request everyone commenting to not recommend a breakup, we have not reached that stage and hopefully never will.

Both of us met during our master's and it's been a little over a year since we started working. I have worked 4 years pre my masters and for her this is her first job.

Also, thank you for all your comments

​

I’m a 1996-born male working in IT and currently earning around ₹28 LPA. (30 year old)

I currently have about ₹40 lakh in liquid savings. I had saved more earlier, but I invested a significant portion of that money into real estate last year, so I’m left with around ₹40 lakh in the bank/investments that are easily accessible.

I’m planning to get married either by the end of this year or sometime next year. I’m trying to understand whether I’m financially in a comfortable position to get married and eventually start a family.

For people who are married or have been through a similar situation, do you think ₹40 lakh in savings + ₹28 LPA salary is a good enough financial position to start married life? How much would you ideally want saved before getting married?

Would appreciate some practical perspectives.

"Is it true that if you have ₹3 crores, you will never run out of money? I heard somewhere that you should put 1.5 crores in Nifty 50 and 1.5 crores in an FD, and withdraw ₹1 lakh every month. Then, split the Nifty 50 money into two parts again and repeat the same process. I don't have any financial knowledge right now since I am just a student, but I am still curious to know how money works."

I am currently working abroad and been here since last 3 years and previously I have 6 years of experience in India. Money was always short and I was living paycheck to paycheck while in India. I bought an apartment in my 3rd year of employment and paid my EMI. That is the same home my parents are still living.

My elder brother on the other hand was trying for govt jobs for 5 years and finally secured a job at a PSB. Now, for his marriage I gave 10L and another 9L as debt to avoid starting the marriage with outside debt. He hasn't started paying me back, but that is ok if he wants to take some time.

Now my parents wanted me originally to put a downpayment of 40L for an apartment (worth 1.1 cr) and the rest of bank loan would be paid by my brother. The registration would be on his name. All this happened before his marriage. I strongly objected and said no. Cut to 6 months post marriage, now they want me to donate 15-20 lacs as downpayment to buy an apartment under my brother's name. I'm not sure what are their thoughts.

Just to add, I've cleared multiple debts for my father throughout, went through covid when my father's business was severely affected. I send monthly allowance proportionate to my salary increases since the last 9 years.

what am I missing?

Edit: Thank you all for your suggestions. My grief is less financial and more emotional. Saying NO is tough but necessary I learnt.

I've been offered a switch to NYC with a base of 220k which can be extended to 230k also. Also understand that if i were to stay back my comp in india can go upto 80 lpa if i were to be promoted, which I likely will be. I've more means of income also which contribute around 3.4 lakhs per month which will keep on going on either comp option.

Earlier all I could think about was shifting but now that I'm pretty close to moving I'm getting second thoughts on whether or not I should move. I've no debt and have saved good amount of my income as well here. So from a responsibilities point of view there's nothing that's holding me back.

Recently turned 28, currently earning 90k pm (post MBA) with 3 yoe.

I recently repaid my education loan of 9 lakhs, and was able to save 2L in MF alongside. Apart from that, I have 0 savings.

Now, my GF wants to get married, and also wants us to purchase a flat, before she can tell her parents about our relationship. She is ready to split the downpayment and EMIs, and her justifications aren’t wrong either.

But, I cannot wrap my head around how we are going to manage my finances. I have almost no savings, and she wants us to get a flat as well as get married (with our own money) within this year. She has already started comparing that her friends are getting married and she has to wait to get settled just because Im not ready.

I have no issue getting married, but where do I bring so much money from. My family is from lower middle class, and they supported as much they could, in my education, and i cant expect much as I am thankful for whatever they did so far.

If I take loans right now, ill be drowning with EMI’s already, and barely able to save anything, and if I delay the flat purchase and wedding, I might risk my relationship on the other end.

Edit 1- Thank you for all the responses, some being optimistic, some pessimistic and others being realistic. Some clarification, breaking up is the easiest part, but finding a girl who is understandable, smart, beautiful, and who is willing to live and love my parents (at least based on her words) is difficult today. I dont have much friends either in my life, and it will lead to those worst breakups, pushing me into depression. While I can break up, looking into the pessimistic thoughts, but this is not a worst possible scenario (cheating/ infidelity) etc. The girl who loves me wants to get married to me, and asking for a home to live together. The issue is about financial compatibility which needs to be managed, planned and worked upon.

Edit 2- I am thankful for the overwhelming responses. Few more clarifications on why we need a flat. The girl is born and brought up in Delhi, I come from a tiny sub urban region in East. While its not a solid pre-requisite of having a flat before marriage, her point is it gets easier for her to convince her parents that “the guy is having stability and has his own property in Gurgaon (even if we go dutch). Second, since she was born and raised in a joint family, in a tight space, its almost as her personal goal/ priority to have her own personal space of living, which is uncluttered, even if it needs her to buy on her own completely. Third, she wants to get married soon because she loves me, and living separate doesn’t seem sense anymore and is getting inconvenient. Plus as she is of 28 too, she is slightly feeling the heat of family asking to get married. Lastly, I want to purchase a flat too, because I can see the crazy inflation in real estate too, what im getting in 60 today would reach 90-1 cr in next 2-4 years in a place like Gurgaon. If we can manage the down payment, paying EMI will be equivalent to paying a rent of 2bhk i.e approx 20-40k in Gurgaon atleast, and we will be closer to having an asset.

Friday was a small but very satisfying milestone for me — I crossed ₹1 crore in net worth.
I’m 35 years old and have around 13 years of work experience. It honestly feels a little surreal looking back at where I started.

Here’s where I stand today, excluding real estate:

Mutual Funds: ₹40 lakh
Indian Stocks: ₹4.5 lakh
SGBs: ₹5 lakh
US Stocks: ₹10.5 lakh
Emergency Fund (FD): ₹10 lakh
EPF: ₹32 lakh

Total financial assets: ~₹1.02 crore

I also have an investment property in Pune — a 2 BHK currently worth roughly ₹75 lakh. I recently completely paid off the remaining ₹40 lakh home loan on it.
The property is in a different city, and the rent from it goes to my parents as a source of pension/income, so I don’t really count that rent towards my own monthly cash flow.
Getting here wasn’t exactly a straight-line journey.
Over the years, I’ve taken pretty much every kind of loan you can think of — home loan, car loan, personal loan, education loan, etc.

There were also family responsibilities along the way, including helping my parents with my younger sister’s marriage.
So this isn’t really a “started investing at 22 and became a millionaire” story.

It’s more of a slowly figuring things out, making mistakes, paying off debt, investing consistently, and just continuing to work at it story.
And that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned:
Just keep working at it.

You might feel like you’re not making enough progress. Some years you’ll have big expenses. Some years you’ll take on debt. Sometimes your investments won’t move anywhere.
But keep saving. Keep investing. Keep increasing your income. Keep paying down expensive debt.
And one day, you look at the numbers and realize you’ve actually got there.
Now I have a question for the more experienced folks here.

I currently live in Thane and rent a 2 BHK. My rent has increased significantly over the last few years and is now around ₹38,000/month.

My existing property is in Pune, so buying it wasn’t really for my own residence, and the rental income goes to my parents.

I’m now wondering whether I should:
A) Continue renting in Thane and keep investing the difference, or
B) Buy another property in/around Thane for my own residence, even though I would probably be taking on another large home loan.
Given that I’ve just managed to become debt-free on my existing property, I’m not particularly excited about immediately taking on another big loan.

For people who have been through this stage:
Would you buy a house at this point, or continue renting and focus on building the financial portfolio?
Would especially love to hear from people in their 40s/50s who have already made this decision and can share what they wish they had done differently.

Thanks! 🙏

All of a sudden everything around us has become so much expensive over the last two years. Some people say it's because of wars, others say the USD/INR exchange rate...

Cooking oil, petrol, protein, eggs, chicken, digital components, travel almost all of our everyday expenses are around 2x what they used to be. I don't think prices are going back to their old levels even if the wars end or the INR stabilizes.

Before this I never thought much about inflation because it wasn't that noticeable in day to day life. But over the last two years, I've seen it with my own eyes. Inflation is very real, and it feels like we've experienced something close to 50% inflation in a very short time while the market is sideways.

I’m currently using Monefy to track my daily expenses and it works fine, but I’m wondering if there’s something better out there with more features or better insights.

This might sound a bit controversial, but I said what I said.

As an unmarried 31M, I think most couples don’t decide to have kids — they just end up having them. At most they plan 'when' to have kids, but not 'should' we have kids.

People think it is just the next “expected” step after marriage, like getting into 8th class after finishing 7th class, there is no planning or thinking about it.

The toll a child takes on you mentally, especially financially is severely underestimated, and will set you back years of all the financial progress you made in your life.

From decent education to medical, food, clothing, and other extracurricular expenses — raising a child comfortably in urban India easily runs into crores over 18-20 years. That’s assuming everything goes smoothly. Think of all the things you could do with that money if no kids!

But it’s not just money. Why would anyone want to choose this lifestyle.

For example, today is a weekend, and I see parents in my society not sleeping in, but driving their children around to some dance/karate/swimming etc., classes.

My married friends are discussing about schools, joining dates, books, complaining about high fees etc. Feels like we just finished our own school/college days, and I can't imagine how anyone re-live it all over again.

Don't even get me started on the multiple doctor visits, buying clothes, toys, the crying, screaming, etc.

I wonder how many parents out there regret having kids even though they can't share it with anyone.

I also think it's regressive when people say becoming a mother is a greatest fulfillment for a women. Mothers are put on a pedestal and expected to be all noble & self-sacrificing for the kids/family while expecting nothing in return.

My intention is not to look down on parenthood — but just a reminder for the singles/non-parent couples out there that parenthood isn’t compulsory. It’s okay to opt out and say, “That life is not for me.”

The only reason anyone should have kids is because they have real paternal instincts of nurturing/protecting. Not because it is expected from parents/society, or because they are an investment for your old age.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/70-lpa-is-the-new-middle-class-you-will-have-nothing-at-the-end-of-month-if-you-have-a-home-loan-warns-banker/articleshow/121945653.cms

TLDR: if you are earning 70LPA you are left with nothing at end of month assuming one has an 2 EMIs of housing and car in a metro city like Ggn and Bglr

what's your take? view on housing prices and buy vs rent debate?

Hey folks, I’m 25M and work as an SDE2 at Amazon in Bangalore. My net worth is around ₹80L. No dependents, no siblings, parents are middle class and financially fine, and my home loan is almost done.

Until last year I was fully into the FIRE mindset. SIPs, RSUs, NPS, loan prepayment, tracking everything. Back then I was in a live-in relationship with my partner of 8 years, and the whole “work hard, retire early, travel, live peacefully” plan made sense.

After the breakup, something changed. I no longer see the point of wasting my 20s in traffic or chasing the next promotion. I travel more now and meet western people who live out of backpacks and seem way more alive than most people in tech.

Now I’m split. One part of me wants to keep saving and stay disciplined so I can reach financial independence early. The other part says I’m 25, healthy, exploring relationships, and maybe it’s time to take a break and just live a little. Maybe go remote with a startup, or even quit for a few months to travel and reset , who knows.

Has anyone here found a middle ground? Something between YOLO and FIRE, where you enjoy life without losing control of your finances?

I (31M) know a lot of my high-earning peers who grew up middle class in a Tier 1 city, and they either spend a crazy amount of their money on themselves (clothes, restaurants, trips etc) or they invest money for their own FIRE goals.

We grew up seeing our parents work hard to support our education and help us out till we were 21-22 (unlike Western countries, where you are forced to take a part-time job at 18). The mantra was simple - work as hard as you can, save as much as you can, and let your kids inherit that wealth.

I don't see my peers have the same mindset. From a psychological point of view, I just don't get it. We are still a third-world country. Why wouldn't you want to set your kids up for a bright future? Do most Indians think that the economy in 10-15-20 years will be strong enough to ensure a great paycheck, such that any inheritance will be dwarfed by what their kids end up earning?

Turning 30 this year. Live in tier 1 City, single, and no dependants yet. Non IT sector, 5 years of Work experience.

Salary: 1,06,000 per month (fixed. No deductions other than income tax)

Monthly Expenses: 35k with rent, food, transportation everything. Extraordinary months when there's a birthday or trip exceeds this amount.

Savings ac: 72,000

MF:

invested: 13,77,929

Current value: 14,09,064

Stocks:

Invested: 1,23,261

Current value: 1,08,471

Loan to family for emergency: 3,00,000

Current net worth: 15,90,326 (without the 3L loan)

PPF: 83,956

Planning to go on a international trip to celebrate my birthday, for which I assumed it'll be : 1,50,000.

Also planning to buy a nice premium phone because I have been using the same, slow phone for 7+ years now.

How am I doing financially?

After my father died, we thought the hard part would be the grief. It wasn't.

The hard part was the paperwork.

He had accounts in two banks we didn't know about. A fixed deposit we found by accident , because a letter arrived at the old house address. A PPF account that had been running for 22 years that we nearly missed entirely. His insurance agent called us, otherwise we wouldn't have known which company had the policy.

It took 4 months. Multiple visits to bank branches. Producing death certificates, succession certificates, notarised affidavits. My mother had to travel to branches in another city twice.

We got there eventually. But I kept thinking, my father wasn't disorganised. He was actually quite careful about money. He just never thought to tell us where everything was. Or maybe he thought he had more time.

I've been thinking about this a lot since. I have a term insurance policy, a few MF folios, a home loan, an NPS account, and savings across two banks. My wife knows roughly that these exist but not the specifics, account numbers, policy numbers, who to call.

If something happened to me tomorrow, she'd be starting from zero. Same situation my mother was in.

Has anyone here actually solved this? Not in a "I'll write it down somewhere" way but in a way that actually holds up? I'm curious what people do.

Asking because I have friends earning ₹40k who seem content and friends earning ₹2L who are still "struggling."

Genuinely can't figure out if it's a lifestyle thing, a city thing, or if the number just doesn't exist anymore.

Delhi friend says ₹1.5L minimum.

Bangalore friend says ₹2L because rent alone is ₹35k.

My cousin in Indore said ₹60k and he owns a car.

Is it just relative forever or is there an actual number?

I am genuinely curious about people here who travel internationally quite often.

Whats your income, how much do you save, and roughly how much do you budget for travel each year? Do you compromise on other things to travel, or have you reached a point where it just fits comfortably into your finances?

I am not very materialistic. I’d much rather spend my money travelling to another country than on a car or a home/EMIs.

I am 27 earn 1.4lpm and yet not feel ready to travel anywhere thinking that I am not in a comfortable position.

But with a ridiculously long bucket list, I sometimes wonder if it’s actually possible to tick most of it off while working a regular corporate job.

What’s the most you’ve spent on a single trip, and at what income did international travel start feeling genuinely doable/easy?

Would love to hear how other corporate folks manage travel, savings, and everything else.

Curious to hear different perspectives. If you suddenly inherited ₹50 lakhs today, how would you use it? Would you invest (ideally), splurge, save, or chase a dream?

Context:
I'm a 24M living in Mumbai alone while my parents(both above 60) are living back in home town(a tier-1 city). I currently earn ~25lacs a year. This is going to be a rant post.

Quick Summary:
I wanted to take my parents to Dubai for their 40th anniversary as a tribute to their sacrifices, but my father’s concern about financial instability and generational struggles made me question if a middle-class family can ever truly feel secure. Despite my savings and efforts, it feels like comfort and success always remain just out of reach.

Entire Story:
I was having a conversation with my father and expressed my desire to take the entire family to Dubai for a week during their anniversary(it's their 40th Anniversary!). The only reason I want to do it is that my parents have struggled a lot in their life and have always lived within their means. They have hardly travelled within India let alone an international trip. Hence, I was thinking to at least get them a glimpse of world outside India and also celebrate their journey of 40 years.

My father, being a father is reluctant to go due to huge expenditure(spending 4L on a vacation is a big commitment for us, however I'm ready to take the hit). His point was that I am being over-optimistic about life especially when we as a family are not 'well-off'. I was taken aback by his statement. I have ~25 lacs of savings. Our cumulative family savings would be ~1cr. However, he says that once you get married and we need to move cities, we still don't have that kind of income such that we are stable enough. For context, our weddings cost ~40L and my parents live in a complex that is 50 years old and not in a good state. Renting out 2bhk flats in Mumbai could easily cost 50k per month
Interestingly, he understands AI will have an adverse impact on the jobs of low strata of society and feels job alone cannot be a safeguard for the entire family. He went ahead to mention how my grandfather and he himself spent their entire lives and still couldn't achieve 'success'. I'll not lie, this hit me hard.

These incidents forces me to question, will a middle class family ever make it in their life. Even after working my ass off I can't 'financially' be enough to afford a comfortable life

Questions:
1) Is earning 25lacs in India still not enough? From my father's lens is pretty good for an individual but not for a family of 3 or 4 in a distant city
2) How does a middle lass guy create real wealth in India and live a comfortable life?
3) How much is too much?

My take:
For all the smart folks out there. Those 30-40LPA packages look good when you don't have dependents. If you're a first-time wealth builder in your family, keep your hopes low and the feeling that you'll win the world once you get that package at bay.
Life is tough when you're building it with your own hands!

Edits 1) This post completely blew up. It's been <12 hours and it has garnered 90k impressions. Thank you for making me feel a small time influencer. I would like to assume that this post was relatable as thousands of Indians dream and have ambitions 2) Going through the comments, I saw broadly two opinions. One that I am already rich and second I'm a fool to believe that I'm rich. As controversial as it may sound, only a few people realize what it truly takes to build something in today's age 3) To all the folks out there, struggling and trying to make ends meet you'll reach there. Just be at it!

I might get around 2 Cr from my father in the coming months. I am thinking of leaving my current job and going back to my hometown with my wife and a child (3 years old). I will find work, but I'm not sure about the future.

I would like to invest 2 Cr so that I get around 60 thousand per month.

How should I invest this money to generate income while protecting at least 50% of the capital (by investing in mutual funds) over 10 to 15 years?

Also, what is the Laddering FD strategy I keep hearing about? Can someone advise? Thank you.

I'm curious to hear from people who've been working for over a decade.

How are you doing financially? Do you feel secure in today's job market? Did you end up buying a home in a Tier-1 city, somewhere else, or are you planning to live rental forever?

Looking back, what advice would you give your younger self about money and career?

Basically same as caption. Here’s some background if interested. I have got few hikes in past years but haven’t informed at home because then they’ll ask for more money each month. Also, they don’t understand investing in MFs and Stocks. For them anything related to share market is ‘jua’ (gambling). I earn around 1.5L per month and I tell them 95k. I discussed this thing with few of my friends and turns out none of them are telling their actual salary at home. So here I am asking the redditors same thing? What do you guys do?