The earlier the better

It was very early in my corporate life that I met people who were strict with their expenses. One of them would write every single purchase, be it a cup of coffee from the street, that he will jot it in his mobile application. That was moving. I couldn’t do it then. Continuing yourself in the corporate industry, now I see the growth chart, and the subsequent opportunities that one can take advantage of, many of us can be a better planner if we start everything early. That includes, deciding your first bike, first home, first foreign travel, your life term & medical insurance and so on.

Few days back I was coming across trending columns and videos on increasing EMI culture in India. Many of our salary is spent same day on the monthly installments that are due to us. I have been listening to several speakers talking about their financial planning and how in 15 years of their career they grew and saved enough to generate a healthy equivalent passive income. They say, it’s most hard to reach to the figure of 1 crore. Post that, the timeline reduces as one sees our savings to grow itself. Money grows itself after a certain latitude & longitude.

This is the age of early retirement. 10-15 years ago, that was not thinkable in the masses. Your corpus with age is crucial. We can go on blaming our parents and a poorer upbringing devoid of conditional opportunities and all the modern facilities of our times, but for how long and for how many times? At some point, we need to take action and upgrade, if only we need a salary hike and a good take home salary. To the Indian youth out there, be as much confused as you want to be but at some point a linearity in thought, a settlement with your past is the most productive option. 

Changing the industry after 5-6 years of your career is a tough job. At the 366th day in your job, you will be in a state to foresee if you really like your job? You look at your senior colleagues. If you find them motivating enough that you want to keep coming your office in time, and when you imagine yourself in their position, it makes you realize whether you have a save, or you need to hop out.

What is your age? How is your family back ground? How much savings do you do in a month? What do you know about compounding? These are important questions. We have needs in our lives. Needless to say, our needs differ. One of my vendors wants to make 15 Lakh rupees every month. In an Indian scenario, that's more than enough. We have our own separate dreams in which we feel saturated enough to live and be happy. There are people who, even though make enough to buy their first bike, keep on using public transport for certain period, just to reach a minimum level of savings/investment. After a certain period in your corporate life, smaller savings early in your life matter big. It gives you cushion for many things: take a career gap to travel/go for higher studies/start your small business/contribute to the dependents in the family etc.

It is not the culture in India that kids are given career counselling. Talking about the 90s youth who in majority ended up getting a BTech degree, we were the most of transitional generation in confusion. Post that, internet age swirled in space. I see young people confidently telling their parents that they want to be a full time trader, or that they are a social media influencer. 

Today’s generation, or more specific, the world after the COVID seeks a higher-quality living. Being stuck inside a lockdown has made all of us realize the shortage of years in one’s life. With the corporatization of the Indian economy, and more private players reigning to the frontend to squeeze the productivity out of the working professionals, there is at times unmounted pressure on them. Many of us deal with longer working hours, working on holidays, not taking the leaves assigned to us, not spending enough time with the family & friends. While we are younger, this matter lesser than when we age higher in the employee years. At those moments we find ourselves bound by financial constraints and then there is no turning back. 

A minimalistic lifestyle earlier in your career sure seems like a valid option.