Jeene Ke Failsafe

A story about the growing Indian middle class. My Take on it: Hello Hemant, I read your article the day it was posted (probably 3-4 days back) was in some other frame of mind to make up anything in my thought process. Here is my take on the GREAT INDIAN MIDDLE CLASS. These might feel more like a bore moral science class lecture, but in the end these are the issues that will define the middle class and India in the coming years – economically and otherwise. I am amongst the lower-middle income groups with annual household income of less than 5L pa in Jaipur with my wife and a 4-year old as dependents – so please take my comments in that context only, as with cities and professions the criteria for middle income group changes. 1) Prior to 1991 reforms there were only few ways to climb the ladder of social and economic liberty – govt. jobs, business with unrealistic profit margins, Dalali in many deals, etc.. But, with reforms many new opportunities came to fore and we grabbed them. If mo...

I recently read an article on the TFL (The financial literates) regarding 10 rules of thumb for financial planning ( http://www.tflguide.com/2011/09/top-10-financial-planning-rules-of-thumb.html ). It is a must read for every one remotely interested in money. However, I had my own views for the rules presented there, which i list here. do not read my conclusions in isolation before going through the listed article, otherwise nothing would get conveyed. My conclusions on rules stated in the article: Rule 1 : the asset allocation cannot depend only on your age (that says that the younger you are, the more risk apetite you might have). one should also take into consideration the present financial standing - an unmarried single-child male in his late 20s or early 30s living with parents in their owned home will certainly have more risk apetite than a married young person living off his income in a rented house with his wife and possibly kids; similarly, a businessman willing to park some m...