Any Bollywood movie with Salman Khan as the hero makes life look very easy sailing because he gets everything he wants and gets away with anything. Just like you, Rishabh was also a big fan of Salman Khan.
Rishabh always excelled in studies and sports. After graduating from a premium B-School, he was placed as a consultant with a corporate company in Mumbai. And, his parents were on the top of the world. But financial life didn’t seem so easy sailing at all.
Education Loan
A management degree from a premium institute also comes with a heavy loan burden. Rishabh had taken Rs.20 lakhs as loan. As soon as he begins his new job, he has to start repaying his loan. Having taken the loan at 10% interest and for a period of 7 years, he will now have to pay around 33,000 per month to repay it.
That’s a pretty big chunk without even considering any of his other expenses.
High Rent in Metros
Living at home with his parents, Rishabh had never even thought about the EMI for their house or any other expenses for that matter. Now, he has relocated to a new house which is closer to his office.
Despite sharing it with a colleague, he has to pay Rs 10000, including rent, electricity charges and maintenance fee, as it is in a prime locality
Travel and Food Expenses
To be able to commute easier to his office, visit his parents every weekend and to be travel better within the city, he has to buy a car or a two-wheeler. Rishab then has to take a car loan. A new car calls for monthly expenditure on petrol. Let us assume that Rishab travels about 10 kms a day (to and fro) and more on weekends and is paying around Rs.100 a day for fuel expenses. Adding this to the 250 he spends on food every day; he spends around Rs.9000 per month on food and travel.
Lifestyle Expenses
Fancy jobs come with certain lifestyle expectations, dreams and a pressure to achieve it all. Latest gadgets, parties and branded clothing are coveted by everybody, including Rishabh.
Moreover, he tries his best to give back to his parents and prove to them that he has now become responsible. Let’s assume that he keeps aside Rs.8000 to Rs.10000 to fulfill these dreams.
Pressure to Save and Invest
On one hand, he needs to maintain his lifestyle, and on the other, he needs to ensure that he isn’t squandering all his money. He needs to start saving up and investing as his future will only get more demanding.
He buys a life and health insurance without any delay. The later he buys them, the costlier they might be. He puts aside Rs.20,000 a year for these. Insurance is not the same as an investment, but safeguards your investments. So for a regular investment regime, he would have to chalk out plans with SIPs or other plans.
But is he still left with enough money for these after all the above expenses?
Job Challenges:
Rishabh is still a fresher in the industry and struggling to gain a foot hold in India’s competitive market.
He has to get through a training period and probation period that come with no perks and incentives. It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to make it big in an industry.
Illustration
Let us suppose that he receives Rs.65,000 per month as salary.
His approximate expenses (in INR):
| Education loan | 33,000 ( 20 lakhs at 10% for 7 years) |
| Rent | 10,000 |
| Commutation and food expenses | 9,000 |
| Lifestyle expenses and others | 10,000 |
| Insurance | 2,000( per month) |
| Car loan | 5,900 ( 3.5 lakhs loan at 10% for 7 years) |
| Total expenses | 67,900 |
Many young Indian professionals in the metros find it challenging to make both ends meet during the initial years of their career. It gets little hard to get that Dabangg and Kick when starting out in your career.