Every person in a friend group usually fits a type. We have the whiners, the loud ones (that use even their hands to talk), the gym-junkies (#fitspiration), the slow bros, the shopaholic (who won’t stop talking about her new shoes), the Star Wars geek, the planner, the TV show binge watcher (that ruined many a finale for you), the rich kid and so many more.
The same people could just as easily fit into different categories of savers.
Read on to see to which category you belong to.
The Water Slide
Just like the Vertical Drop at your nearest amusement park, this person seems to have a never-ending access to money. But the money comes and the money goes.
Generally, they are living off “someone” (a.k.a parents) else’s money. The shopaholic probably has a credit card or two that she doesn’t need to worry about paying off. They spend their bucks their parents’ bucks on buying the latest gadgets, bikes, cars, cosmetics, clothes, shoes, more shoes, and… phew! The Crème-brulee and the pizza order seem to cost a thousand each. Daddy will take care of everything.
The newest SkullCandy earphones ensure that they don’t hear the age old reminder from their parents: Money doesn’t grow on trees Beta. Noise cancellation does the trick.
The Super Savers
This guy saves his salary smartly. A bare minimum remains in their checking account (like Dhoni’s first 50 balls) and the rest lands in their savings account (like Dhoni’s last 20 balls). Every month, they pay off their home loan, car loan, and any other loan EMIs. They pay insurance. They buy stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and spend on only what is necessary.
Families with one income source or single parents normally fall into this category. Just like the Star Wars geek knows all that happened in the movies, the cartoons, the mini-series, the spin-off series and all that jazz. Now, he has only one focus – the future!
The Cash Khans
These are the people who have a lot squirreled away in their savings account AND surplus cash in hand despite that. They normally have no debts. They’re either really smart about their investments and know very well how to grow money exponentially or are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Basically, they throw parties in the 1-crore-club, 2-crore-club etc. and might even know the Khans of Bollywood.
Branded clothes, a vacation in Mauritius, memberships in elite clubs, Michelin star meals, buying a couple of luxury brand cars and often redesigning the interior of a their massive houses is just everyday new in their circles. Having them as loyal customers completely boosts a brand. The rich kid in your group wouldn’t hesitate on buying the group a round.
Live-in-the-moment
These are the people who enjoy the now and save only a little for their future. They spend money dining at fancy restaurants, updating their phone model every few months, and travelling wherever their fancy might take them. They might have seen Kejriwal staging a dharna in Delhi, watched Manchester United in Old Trafford, and even met Modi in China or America.
Single youngsters, new job-entrants, families with multiple income sources normally fall into this category. They either don’t have too many responsibilities or have enough to afford all the luxuries. I’m sure the laidback dude would agree with them when they say, “Don’t worry about that now, it’ll take care of itself.” But most of them realize at a later stage, how they failed to plan. And some others end up in debt shackles of credit card loans, personal loans or by heavily borrowing from their friends.
The Tom Thumbs
Not only do they have many fingers (maybe even toes) in many pies, they manage to split the pie to accommodate the remaining fingers. They save for short-term as well as long-term (retirement fund) goals. Their income splits into several parts before you can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious; groceries for the month, children’s fees (school and hobbies), savings for that new fridge, savings for college fund, savings for far away weddings, savings for that Ladakh trip they’ve planned for forever, savings for retirement fund etc.
They consult a FA and regularly review their portfolio to see if they are up with the inflation. They definitely know their math and can plan your birthday party in a jiffy on half your budget.
There are some others as well, like the Uncle Scrooges, who save every bit – be it a card reward point, a travel deal, or at a stock clearance sale, or the Ever Confident Gamblers. They can be explained by Einstein’s theory of relativity. When they have hands full of money, an hour will seem like a minute, but when they don’t have money, a minute will seem like an hour.
So, which category did you fall in? We sure do hope you didn’t identify yourself as a whiner.
YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO: Check your savings that you’ll have accumulated at the time of your retirement using our Retirement Savings Calculator.