Author: Anirudh Gupta

Ramesh Kumar never thought of himself as poor. At 42, he had a steady private-sector job in Noida, a two-bedroom flat bought on loan, and children studying in a reputed school. Yet every month ended the same way. EMIs consumed nearly half his salary. Medical bills for his wife’s diabetes were rising. School fees went up annually, while his income did not. Savings existed, but only on paper. One job loss or hospitalisation would have pushed the family into debt. This was not poverty. This was financial survival. India today sits on a booming ₹500 lakh crore wealth economy, yet…

In December last year, 29-year-old software engineer Rohan Mehta from Bengaluru faced a sobering reality check. Despite earning ₹1.2 lakh per month, his total savings for the year barely crossed ₹10,000. “I thought I was doing well…dining out, travelling, buying gadgets on EMI. But looking back, I realised I had nothing tangible to show for a year of hard work,” he recalls. Rohan’s predicament mirrors a broader national trend. According to the RBI’s 2024–25 Household Savings Report, gross household savings have plummeted to 5.1% of income, a far cry from the 20% benchmark deemed necessary for financial security. A decade…