There is a flood of financial gurus in the market (social). Everyone is teaching how you can achieve financial freedom and retire by 40.
The ideas are as nonsensical as saving 70% of your income for 10 years to not eating outside (which they are dubbing a minimalist way). People who are struggling to make ends meet and trying to generate an income source through social media are teaching ‘Financial Freedom’.
There is nothing wrong in educating or sensitizing people towards finances and their spending habits but to goad them to achieve financial freedom through unattainable actions is just cheating.
In the current scenarios when it’s becoming difficult for people to meet their grocery needs within budget, where the rents are going high and fuel prices are burning please don’t insult by recommending saving 70% of income or putting 40% in mutual funds, etc.
Financial Literacy is good but luring people with headlines such as “How to save 1 Crore in 5 years?” is simply toying with gullible people who are always looking for a miracle.
With every passing day (and post) the difference is reducing between those financial crooks that existed in earlier markets and the so-called ‘financial advisors’ on social media now.
Financial Freedom can mean different things for different income groups. A family able to run their monthly expenses within their income, a family not being in any debt, parents being able to support the children’s education without a loan, or a mother simply being able to save a few hundred rupees every container for emergencies could also mean financial freedom for them. At least these are realistic goals and with a few improved spending and investing habits, they can be achieved.
Not more than a handful of people have the ability to invest 1 lakh rupees in mutual funds or gamble in the crypto market. If these advisors really want to help they should suggest how to run a household (including rent, groceries, fuel, fees, etc.) on a monthly salary of 50 thousand rupees and make the ends meet.