Comprehensive Indian Finance Guide: Common Mistakes, Smart Growth & Future Trends

This is the Pop Sugar financial advice ultimatum on Indian YouTube. I call it the Jenzi money manual. In the last 2 to

3 years, what have you learned new about money? >> Learning how to optimize your expenses.

99% of people over here have never even downloaded their bank statements and actually done some analysis on it. Don't

even know how money is leaving their life. For most of them, it's a wreck. Could you please list out four of the

most common Indian financial mistakes? >> How many percentage of Indians know how to use the credit cards correctly?

>> Forget percentage. See, there are about 10 cr credit cards which have been dispersed in India. I would say [music]

the number of people who know how to use credit cards properly will not be more than 10,000 people. [snorts]

>> How do you grow money? Now, most people just stick to FD, gold, but that's mathematically not the right thing to

do. You can invest into assets which can grow as high as 15 to 25%. >> 25% [music]

>> you can get there. If you understand the math of everything and how other financial companies are trying to scam

you, you will be ahead of 99% of people and money will stay with you as much as possible.

>> Do you see a difference between our generation and genesis when it comes to financial discipline or career approach?

>> The definition of dream life is changing every single year. Today people are going out on social media and saying I

feel poor with 30 lakhs peranom. The ways to spend money have increased. Today you see there are so many people

who have an iPhone. Can all of them afford the iPhone? No. 60 70% of these iPhones are on EMIs. It's not a want

anymore. It's a need. >> What's a corpus of money in our country that's considered rich?

>> This is not just another financial podcast. You're not just going to get money advice from a finance bro here.

That's what I can promise you. This was one of those episodes that taught me a lot. This was a conversation for my own

financial skill set. Had an immense amount of fun with my brother Shahan as well. Uh I think you'll sense the energy

over the course of this conversation. This particular episode is for people in their late 20s onwards. Uh it's about

how to chalk out your financial journey. I definitely think you should consider watching this with your parents as well

because the financial landscape especially in India is very very dynamic currently. There's a lot of newness in

the ecosystem and we're trying to bring you an updated version of modernday personal finance skills. There's a lot

you'll learn from this episode. TRS is all about bringing unique perspectives and helping you learn and improve the

quality of your life. But just like my brother Shahan, I don't believe that it's just hard work that can improve the

quality of your life. Sharon himself has simplified hugely complex financial concepts for millions of Indians. It's

never just about hard work. It's much more about smart management. Smart work over hard work. Now, if you're building

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Big thanks to ODU for powering this episode. And for now, let's dive into this modern financial masterass on money

and mindset with my boy Sharon Higra on TRS [music]

[music] looking stunning. Morning Mr. Higra. >> Thank you. Thank you.

>> I feel this is the Pop Sugar financial advice ultimatum on Indian YouTube. I call it the Jenzi money manual.

>> Okay, I understood everything except for pop sugar. What is pop sugar? >> Pop sugar means is digestible by

everybody. >> Okay. Do I remember when I was 22, uh, finance in general was not a subject I

was drawn to and I started saving only when I was 24ish because of this reason that it just seemed intimidating.

>> Uh, I'm trying to market to those 22 year olds as well. We'll go really deep on financial talk. Uh, but this is a

very Gen Z oriented episode. I'm >> pretty sure people our age will also benefit from this. But uh we need to

talk to the most basic non-financially interested person here as well. >> Yeah, I think uh it's not going to be

difficult because at the end of the day, everybody wants to be rich. It's money at the end of the day. So, it's going to

be fun. Let's do it. >> Yeah. Let me just tell you guys that every time my heart breaks, I call up

Shahan and he's a great love guru as well. He smells fantastic. [laughter] Uh, I wish you guys could smell him

through the screen, but unfortunately today you just digest his financial wisdom. Uh,

>> I don't know what to say to that, but [laughter] thanks. Thanks for the compliment.

>> How's life? >> Life is good, man. Life is good. Um, apart from so I typically look at life

in three different buckets. I'm a very analytical guy that way. So there's money, health, and relationships. So

money and relationships are great. Uh but health is something that I'm trying to focus on. Uh been facing some you

know physical pain issues because of too much of podcasting and you know nodding my neck all the time.

>> So just trying to do some physio on that. >> You're literally the personification of

money for many people >> right >> and I believe that the content creator

becomes the content. >> Right. >> I think that the content comes first

then the content creator's personality alters itself. >> Right?

>> So I feel you think about money a lot. >> True. Therefore, lately in the last two to three years, what have you learned

new about money? Let's begin there. >> Okay, you're right. I think it's not just me. I think everybody is constantly

thinking about money. But the problem is that they think about money just in one dimension is like how do I earn more

money? That's the only thing that people think of which is their salary. >> Um but for me, money is maths. It's just

mathematics, right? And I'm not talking about your, you know, differentiation and calculus and all of that

Simple algebra mathematics. And I look at money as the flow of money into your life and out of your life. Right? Let's

break that into two parts. What is money into your life? For most people, it's just their salaried income. That's it.

But if you have figured out multiple sources of income, you have passive income from your rent. You have passive

income from your investments. So that's all the money flowing into your life. Then once it hits your bank account, now

we try to figure out how do we keep it as much as possible to ourselves. We're not we're not getting into the growing

part right now. We're talking about how do you keep as much of it as possible in your life, right?

>> But why would it leave in the first place? >> Taxes.

>> Okay? >> Right? Once it hits your bank account, you have to pay tax on it. Right? So

number one is that which everybody is aware of. The second thing is learning how to optimize your expenses. Now a lot

of people don't really look at this carefully. Nobody I I'm sure 99% of people over here have never even

downloaded their bank statements and actually done some analysis on it. But I'm sure for most of them it's a wreck,

right? And most of them don't even know how money is leaving their life. Um what I say is that if you look at your three

biggest expenses which is your rent, your uh groceries and your uh you know going out which is what a typical

middle-ass person typically spends money on these days. You can save at least 10 to 20% of that money if you know how to

use the right financial tools. Right? So that is the second bit of it in terms of how do you save as much money as

possible. The third thing is planning for the worst case scenario which is okay you've been earning money

for the last 5 years probably have 10 lakhs saved up but one bad day in your life can wipe out half of the money.

>> M >> what is this? This is you get a big medical injury or a medical bill and you

cannot do anything about it. Whatever the hospital gives you you have to pay. You can't negotiate. You can't do any

kind of you know kam kuro please don't do this. You can't even say oh that is not needed just do this. You just have

to pay whatever they're saying. And medical bills have doubled every four years, right? Meaning in the next 20

years, a one lakh bill will be 32 lakhs >> in 20 years from now. >> And most people just have a company

health insurance which is probably two to five lakhs. So having a good coverage which protects you, not just you cuz

you're also responsible for your parents' health, for your kids' health, for your spouse's health. So having a

big cover of at least I would say 25 to 50 lakhs is really really important to ensure that whatever you do next

actually matters >> because people will keep talking about trading FNO mutual fund stock market but

all of that is pointless if half of your money can leave in a single day. >> So you protect for that.

>> Next comes how do you grow that money once it's in your bank account. Now most people just stick to FD gold and

probably buy a house, right? But that's mathematically not the right thing to do, right? You can invest in assets.

We'll go deeper into it uh later on, but you can invest into assets which can grow as high as 15 to 25% depending on

how good you are. >> 25% >> you can get there, right? I will explain

how that works. So 15 to 25% every year is the possibility. 15% if you're somebody who is just going to invest and

forget. 25% if you're somebody who is going to be an active investor and are constantly monitoring everything and

know how to use leverage on top of your savings to grow your money. >> What does that mean?

>> For example, simple example is FNO, right? FNO trading. What do they do? Right? It's a leverage trade. Like even

if you have let's say 10,000 rupees, you can get an exposure of 1 lakh rupees. >> You're talking about futures and

options. >> Yes, futures and options, right? Even with 10,000 rupees of capital, you can

get an exposure of 1 lakh rupees, >> right? So if the if the stock moved by 1%.

>> Right? You are actually for on a 10,000 investment you could make 10,000 profit right because you have a 10x leverage

>> right but that's really on the extreme side where even your returns can be 36% as well on a year not per month. So

that's the extreme part of it. Got it? >> Where you grow your money, right? >> So everything which happens in between

is the how money flows into your life >> and I just look at the mathematics in every single aspect of money entering my

life and money exiting my life. If you understand the maths of everything and how other financial companies are trying

to scam you by pushing you the wrong products, you will be ahead of 99% of people and money will stay with you as

much as possible. How much percentage of humanity has an understanding of what you are saying in the first place?

>> Wow. I think uh less than.1% people know all these things. So 99.9%

do not understand money according to >> and I will even go as far as to say that even a chart accountant which most

people think is the ultimate degree in finance they only know one particular topic which is taxes right and finance

is so broad right you can get into your mutual fund stock credit cards insurance all of these things right so a chartered

accountant who has studied for four years trying to get that degree is still not capable of learning all of these

things because they have a tunnel vision I'm only going to focus on this. >> I'm not saying all started accountants

don't know but majority of them don't know >> right

>> pop sugar time >> uh sorry to slow you down Mr. I want to tell you that my way to get

financial education is through conversations with you. >> And I maybe like a couple of other

friends that I speak to >> to just brush up >> my own uh viewpoint on money and I do

represent that uninterested in money category. >> Uh I'm very financially disciplined.

I've saved very well. Uh but that's because I've focused on having these kind of hangout sessions a lot over the

years. >> Right. So, I want to ask you on behalf of those 22 year olds and 23 year olds

who want a dream life in the long term, who want a great retirement phase, who want good money,

>> uh, but they're not >> wholly comfortable with learning about money,

>> right? >> They're intimidated by everything from what the word FD sounds like to what

real estate sounds like. >> Futures and options is very far off, >> right? So this is me asking you to talk

to people who are not even your audience. >> Perfect.

>> Okay. Talk to yourself at age 22. Knowing you, I would say talk to yourself at age 16.

>> Okay. So firstly, let me tell you that even I learned by talking to other people who are smarter than me, right?

There's only so much you can learn from books and watching a video. >> Yeah.

>> Most of the aha moments that I've learned, like you said, you know, what have you learned in the last 2 years,

these are mostly coming from people, we are in Mumbai right now. These are mostly coming from people who live in

south Bombay have generational wealth >> really >> right and the all the conversations that

they have in their family right from the age of 10 is about money >> right and these are mostly Gujarati

>> right there's a reason why they're good with money because they talk about money every single time in the dinner table

conversation that's the default >> right so most of my learnings come from there and I'm grateful that you know

these billionaires and people who have more than 500 cr net worth are you know coming to talk to me and they're willing

to share their secrets with me and they will never talk publicly about most of these things, right? Because they don't

want everybody to know that they are rich. >> Now coming to the GenZ's over here who

want to like retire forever on a beach in Goa. Let's let's talk about that. So first let's understand what is a good

life, right? See, when I was 22 years old, I was making 27,833 rupees per month. At that point of time

in my head a good life is me earning one lakh rupees a month which is 12 lakhs a year and if I could spend 30k per month

it would be a good life back then I was like 1,000 rupees per day if I can spend I can go anywhere and back then barbecq

nation was 500 rupees eat all you want >> like that is the ultimate of I'm a foodie right I love to eat good food

>> which city were you in >> Bangalore >> okay

>> I'm like I'm a foodie majority of my expense is food And barbecue nation was the ultimate of food for me because you

can eat every anything you want and it's everything right. So if 500 rupees I go and eat and I'm spending a,000 rupees a

day that's sorted and I spend you know I'm obviously not going to think of owning an entire house back then. I'll

own a onebedroom in a three-bedroom apartment with my friends and that would be good life for me 1 lakh rupees a

month. Fast forward to today which is 8 years later. Uh obviously that's not the case because nobody predicted inflation

to be this high in this country. Nobody thought the cost of living would increase this fast. Neither did I.

Right? And we could actually and and for the first time I feel we are actually feeling it on a yearly basis. Like when

I was young I didn't really feel from the year 2010 to 2015 my expenses have increased a lot. Like my parents didn't

really complain about expenses back then. Now from 2020 to 2025 everybody is talking about it and everybody is

feeling the pain right. So what used to work back then is not going to work right now because even if the government

is saying inflation is 2 3% for the whole country they're like you know we have brought down the inflation for the

country you know things are fine right now but that is for the 60% of the population of this country who are

farmers you know even now 50% of the population are farmers which is where the vote bank is now for these guys yes

inflation is controlled at 2 to 3% % because most of their living expenses are you know what's the price of roti

what's the price of rice all of that they don't care what's the price on swiggies they don't care what's the

price of this new movie ticket in PVRox they don't care about Uber Ola nothing right they don't care about any of those

things but we do right so for somebody like me and you cost has been increasing by at least according to me 8 to 10%

minimum and for people who are actually wealthy people who travel outside regularly like I think me and you we go

out of the country at least two to three times a year for people like us I would say the inflation has been 15% even this

is based on my own expenses which I've seen which has risen so if this is the reality of the country right now

the definition of dream life is changing every single year like I really don't know what to consider as dream life

anymore today we are reading stories on social media of people earning 30 lakhs peranom M which is for me that was life

is set kind of income like that's why everybody prepares so hard for getting into IM right and I really wanted to get

into it as well 25 lakhs peranom I'm like wow I don't want anything else in life I am sorted I can travel whenever I

want how many times I want [snorts] but today people are going out on social media and saying I feel poor with 25

lakhs peranom and 30 lakhs peranom so trying to get to the answer of that question what is a dream life is itself

become very challenging and this number according to me right now in terms of how much you can spend and how much you

need to spend to consider that your life is really really set I would and assuming you're a single guy not married

with kids and all of that I would say anywhere between one and a half lakh to two lakhs per month one and a half to

two lakhs per month of spending is needed to feel like you are rich in this country right now just 24 lakhs your

spending what do people spend on >> Maine is obviously the rent right >> like a nice house nice experience

>> and I'll tell you the problem with that the problem with that is we are all forced to live in the top three cities

>> Mumbai Bangalore and Delhi cuz this is where the jobs are right and the rent over here is extremely high right if you

look at a multiplier of um salary to rent ratio or let's say salary to house value ratio because house the rent

increases if the house value increases now the real estate prices have gone up a lot why has it gone not it's going to

geek out the audience right now but let's just say it has gone up a lot now because of that the landlords asking

more and more rent right now if you look at the rent um if you look at the house value as a multiplier of my income in a

country like India let's say I'm working in Bangalore I'm a IT guy just to keep it very very simple and I make let's say

12 lakhs a year I'm 27 28 I'm making 12 lakhs a year just to keep it and on average level it is slightly higher than

the average but let let me just take the best case scenario now the average price of a house would be about 2 crores in a

place like Bangalore forget about Mumbai right Mumbai 2 crores means you are in I don't know na now Mumbai but in average

price of a house in Bangalore would be 2 crores for a three bk house now if I'm making 10 lakhs a year and if the house

value is 2 crores that is 20 times my annual income that is not the case in other countries is for example let's

take Dubai for example a average price of a house in Dubai for a two-bedroom would be about 3 and a

half to 4 crores there but the income is also way way higher right the income over there people over there on an

average a good person good income person would be making about 20,000 dirhams a month which is about 200,000 dirhams a

year about 50 lakhs a year 40 to 50 lakhs a year is the income so if I do that multiplier it is just six times

their annual income versus an Indian which is 20 times their annual income. >> So rent is the biggest expense for most

people and you can't even do anything about it. >> Yeah. You know uh I do believe it's the

responsibility of content creators and or media professionals to talk about this but as urban Indians especially we

don't question a lot of things. So on a surface level AQI on a not so surface level exactly what you're talking about

you call it rent to income ratio. >> It's not the same as what it is abroad. It is not

>> and I love everything about my culture but urban

Indians do not have an easy existence. >> I agree. >> It's just that we are flowing through it

without questioning anything. >> Right. No, we can't do anything also. Right. Like what can you do?

>> Like you said the air quality is bad. Like I just flew in from Dubai today. Um I was there for almost uh 7 days and

while I was there all I'm reading about is Delhi pollution is bad. AQI is 500 600. food farmer just put a video of 10

different air purifiers, what is best? I watched that video and as I'm flying in Mumbai, I'm like, bro, did I fly, did I

just enter Delhi or did I enter Mumbai? >> It's as bad. >> It's really bad. I'm like, I was just

staring out your balcony. I can't even see the sea. Last time I came here, I could see the sea.

>> I can't see right now. >> It only clears up in the monsoon. >> Exactly. Right. And I am fortunate

because I live in Juu surrounded by trees. But that's not the case for everybody who are living in probably

Anderi, South Bombay. It's very bad the pollution. >> It's also little things like when I'm

sitting in my car, I know I'm losing an hour of my day minimum if I'm in Mumbai. And at night, the distance between my

house and your house takes about 5 minutes to cover. >> Oh, really? An hour?

>> Yeah. Because of all the construction that's going on, >> like 2 km.

>> Yeah. Uh [snorts] it's it's like I really want Gen Z's to not just focus on concerts.

>> Yeah. >> And these kind of show off social media experiences but

>> question things around you. >> Yeah. >> Uh and if you can

>> you ask me where the money is going. This is also one of them. The concerts >> really

>> right. Every month I go on let's say a at least one concert. Right. >> What is a concert ticket?

>> Like 5,000 it'll cost >> 5,000 >> 5,000 minimum

>> which is a lot in the world. And that is not even a VIP ticket. When when we mean VIP, they don't mean table. It just mean

you get to stand in front and see the artist from front. You don't get a table for yourself where there's a butler

coming and serving you drinks. But that VIP ticket where you actually get to see the artist in front, which is what most

Jenz will want to do because otherwise how will the pictures look good, right? >> Right. They want to be in front as

possible. That would be like 10 15,000 rupees >> for a ticket and they're spending it

easily. Nothing. That is not something that I would have spent 10 years back. That's a new need that has come in 2025

because number of concerts have increased in India. >> Help me with the math on this. I think

it's extremely crucial for urban Indians, anyone who's working in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore at least.

>> Yeah. >> To visit one foreign country soon in the next

>> soon. Soon is the key word because it gives you perspective. >> Don't even go too far. Just go to the

habibi land and China. That's it. Just go to these two countries. >> Yeah.

>> Right. You will see that just two hours, three hours away from our country, the world is very different.

>> Yes. >> Right. >> That is key.

>> Yeah. >> And change your perspective. Learn to question the life you are given in urban

India. And again, not blaming anyone here, but it's just the outcome of where we live.

>> It is what it is. Uh I've not met a single person my age who doesn't talk about the idea of leaving either to the

hill/goa >> or to two crowds over here. One is people who

are like thinking about leaving the country and other one who are like anti anti. They're like if you do that you're

an antiational like like they're bringing patriotism to sort of support the fact that it's okay to live in an

unhealthy environment. >> Right. So I recently saw a video real recently on my feed. Uh I think Luke

Coutino who keeps coming here a lot right uh he mentioned that he's cautioning people against having babies

right now. >> Wow. >> That's what he said and I was shocked

when he making a statement like that and he's like like people our age who are already

grown up and already have some kind of immunity we are the ones already facing problems. Imagine if a baby is going to

be born in this kind of an environment. What's going to happen? Yeah, >> right. And it's just going to increase

your expenses, right? Because you're going to have to pay for all of those things, right? Because a baby which is

born in a bad environment, you know, it's just going to have more and more health issues.

>> So, I was shocked to see a video like that. >> Yeah.

>> I never thought I would see a video where a doctor is saying don't have babies

>> in India. Uh unfortunately, there's no solution to all these.

>> I think the the solution is hard. It's as simple as see with money anything is possible. Like you and I if we wanted

to, we could just pack up our bags and move to Bali right now in the next flight and set up bays over there. Like

I was just these sort of videos keep coming on me because Instagram has figured out that this this guy wants to

leave the country like because I'm just watching Bali and Dubai videos a lot. It's not like I told Instagram, hey, I

want to leave. But the algorithm understands it, right? Like they start showing me Bali a lot. And I'm sure it's

it's common for all of us. Bali is very popular in our feeds right now. >> I'm seeing houses in Bali there.

Obviously, you can't own a house. Uh it's sold for 25 year lease, >> right? Okay. 25 year lease. You're

getting a mansion, four bedroomedroom mansion with a swimming pool surrounded by nature, forest, all of that for about

$100k. So about 80 90 lakhs. >> Wow. For 25 years. >> For 25 years.

>> We could do that right now. Right. So if you have money, all of these things are possible. M

>> but it is not practical and people will just feel bad that they can't do it for themselves and everybody who has money

will do it right recently there is there is a news of Lakshmi Mittal um who um just he's he's a billionaire right so

he's a steel tycoon he was living in um >> UK >> in the UK he has left UK and now

migrated to UAE right so a record number of millionaires are leaving developed countries where

there is high taxes and moving to countries which have low or zero taxes. So that is already happening.

>> Okay. Um again let's slow down a bit. Firstly want to talk about this brain drain problem.

>> Yeah. >> Because I didn't leave India because of the brain drain problem. Okay.

>> I didn't give my GRE and didn't go for my masters abroad thinking that no no I need to be here and build something for

the country. >> I feel in the last 10 years I've added value to my nation

>> for sure. >> Okay. Uh now I have reached a point where I've interacted with the foreign

minister of the country >> and on this podcast he has said that hey stop criticizing this brain drain thing.

It's not a thing >> cuz we need Indians abroad. >> Okay. Okay.

>> Yeah. Because they Yeah. >> Uh pump money back into the country, help with soft power,

>> right? >> It's almost like a responsibility of urban Indians who can speak English to

probably build global businesses. >> Yeah. >> It's more likely to build a successful

global business when we have a base abroad, >> right? uh let's park that thought.

Secondly, let's address these Gen Z's all over India right now. >> Okay.

>> Uh again for that age 22 bracket assume that they don't want to leave. >> Okay.

>> Now what? >> So firstly I think um there are two kinds of genzies. One is a genzi who are

born in a condition similar to ours where they could not just ask mom and dad for a lack and invested in the

market. Right? So which is the category that we belong to. So the thing is to learn how to grow your money. You need

to put some money to start growing it. Now you're 21 22 you probably have probably 10,000 rupees or 20,000 rupees.

So there's not much you can do with that. But so if you are a Gen Z who already belongs to an upper middle class

upbringing and you are comfortable asking your parents for a lack that's a good starting point because I know a lot

of uh you know Jenz's look I I go to a gym in Juu it's called I think fitness. So a lot of genzies over there like 22

25 year old and they all come to me like bro Shahon I invested in this I invested in silver I made this much money I

invested in crypto I made so much money right and I'm like wow man this is really good and so one guy borrowed

50,000 rupees from his dad invested in in silver and bitcoin you know he's just experimenting and you know trying to

learn about how these things work he made about two lakh rupees returned the money back to his parents 50,000 rupees.

Now he's sitting on one and a half lakh rupees and he's learning slowly slowly how to grow that money. Parents are

proud. They're like my son has returned the money back to me and now he's growing it by himself. And in that

process he's learning about it because that learning thing about growing money comes when you have money.

>> Uh can we go one level deeper? What was the character traits in this particular guy? How did he figure out how to take

that 50k to one and a half lakhs? [snorts] >> So character traits are very simple.

It's a hunger to be financially free, right? Like people realize that just being born in a rich family doesn't mean

you're rich, right? Like a lot of uh poor people, you know, they are envious that oh, this guy was born in a rich

family, you know, why should we empathize with him? But I have realized that people who are born in rich

families are not really happy that they're born rich because they still have to ask permission for everything.

Like yes they could ask 10,000 20,000 rupees from their dad but if they have to buy a two lakh rupees sneakers dad is

not going to do not going to pay for that right it has to come from themselves

>> so these guys realized that there is money in the family second their parents are rich because they're rich they're

learning a lot of lessons from their parents on how to become rich >> learn from somebody who's already become

rich right so and most of these guys belong to business families business family by default there is a very good

understanding understanding of money because if you're not good with personal finance, you will never be good in

business. Impossible. Because in business, if you do not understand how the flow of money works, you will be

bankrupt, right? Like nine out of 10 businesses fail because they don't know how to manage money, not because the

product was bad, not because the marketing is bad, not because you know the whatever, right? None of those

things. Nine out of 10 times is because financial intelligence is bad. So anybody who has been in doing a family

business for more than 5 10 years they understand how money works really really well. So that lessons are passed on to

their kids right from the age of 10. They're not talking about fixed deposits and all right when they when they start

earning their first income they have already tried their hand on multiple asset classes. They already know what

are things like PMS Aif. They already have heard of all of these things >> right? So they're really good at it.

>> Caveat here is that as intimidating as all this sounds. It's way easier than you're thinking. Yeah, it's way

easier than you need a bunch of financial bros for lack of better word to just take you through what these

terms mean. >> Yeah, basically just a mutual fund for rich people. It's essentially that.

>> So basically being born into a upper middle class family does half the job in terms of understanding what to do next.

But that doesn't mean that if you're born in a middle class or a lower middle-ass background your life is gone,

right? It doesn't mean that. In fact, most of the billionaires who become billionaires are self-made billionaires,

>> right? They were not handed over money from their parents. They did it by themselves. And that is because you're

born with that inbuilt hunger. >> Mhm. >> Right. Because your back is against the

wall. Uh failing is not an option. Because if you fail, there's no food on the table, right? So that inherently

makes people want to increase their income, which is the first thing you need to do. So if you are a Gen Z person

born today and if you are like okay I can't I don't want to leave India I want to stay here itself and I want to be

rich the number one thing to do is to increase your sources of income. Most people will have one source of income.

Try to have multiple sources of income. Now here people will get greedy immediately they'll start doing trading.

They'll start taking leverage because they're like I only have 10,000 rupees. I need to become a karoti. I'm not going

to be a karoti by making 10 15% return. I need to get 50% returns. How do I make 50% returns? I need to take leverage. So

that's where they make a lot of mistakes. Second thing is that they will only go behind increasing their salary.

Right now that is a losing game because just increasing your salary is not going to make you rich because at best you can

increase it by let's say 10% every year which is also very hard today right if you're a stellar performer you probably

increase it by 20% every year but if you are starting from a starting salary of 30k per month 40k per month you're never

going to be rich it's going to take you years and years right so first thing I would say is figure out alternate

sources of income now alternate sources of income some people would call it moonlighting But I would say try to join

a company where moonlighting is not fully encouraged but acceptable right and I encourage that in my company as

well. A lot of people who were working in my company uh like especially in the content team they got so good at it they

started doing some freelance gigs and eventually like okay Shahon I I can you know consult you like they come to me

like Sharon I have so many clients now I want to quit my job and happy to help you whenever you need I can be your

freelancer client instead of working for you full-time I'm I'm like great that's fantastic you figured out how to do

generate money by yourself you're not depending dependent on me to give you a salary

Right? So that's also good thing. The third thing is try to um once you do that try to get more clients. Right? So

for that you need to market yourself. Well create good content out there. So there is one story of a guy who worked

for me. He was my chief editor. Uh worked for me worked with me for three years then started creating his own

content. Today has 200,000 followers and he has 10 clients. He's probably 24 years old and making 10 lakhs a month.

You know, I'm trying to think of the human aspect of all this. Yeah. The one thing that my career has taught me is

that not everyone is cut from this particular kind of cloth. >> Yes. Most people can't do this. I'm not

saying this is easy. I'm I told you it's hard when I told you. >> I think it's like maybe 10% of people

have the fire required to do >> less less out of uh uh >> one%.

>> I have 200 employees right now. Only one person has been able to do it until now. That's 5%.

>> Cuz there's a big mental health trade-off. >> Yes. In this.

>> It is. It is. And you can also lose lose it, right? Like the reason he was able to do it because he's young. He's like

even if I lose all my money, it's okay because I can always get a job later. >> But if you're already 30, 35 and all,

then it might be difficult to do this. >> What's the easy alternative to this? >> Easy alternate is

there is no I mean there's no easy alternate to becoming rich, right? It's very simple. It's math. Figure out more

ways to attract money to yourself. The way you attract money to yourself is you're solving a problem. The more

problems you solve, the more money you attract to your life. >> If you're just solving one problem in a

company, >> you're just a you're just a nut and a bolt. You're just going to get paid as a

nut and a bolt. If you're solving multiple problems in a company, you will get a notice quickly.

>> Like for example, >> in my company, there is a 24 year old guy who is now a head of an entire team.

Like 15 people report to him. Now why? Because he is solving problems even before I knew it existed.

>> Right? Right. So once they start doing that and there are not a lot of people who do that this I would say is

something that even 10% of people can do >> wherever you're working try to pick up problems which were not given to you.

>> A lot of people wait for things to be handed over to them. Don't do that. >> If you start solving problems before uh

before anybody told you to solve it. >> You will 100% get noticed. >> 1,000% impossible to not get noticed.

>> Say and if that makes your salary swell up very quickly. you can probably ask for a 50% hike also and that has

happened. I've given that and I have no option but to give them because they're so critical to my operations and I know

that if they leave I will lose probably two hours a day trying to do that. Now I value my time the most.

>> If somebody is willing to somebody can save two hours of my life every day. I'm ready to pay him whatever he asks for.

It's a lot of time. But if somebody is doing things which I can just get another person to do it. See if you're

only doing ad hoc work, if you're only doing things which are given to you, you can be easily replaced. Right? So you

can't really come to me asking for anything more than a 10% hike. I'm not going to give it to you cuz I can easily

replace you. >> Right? That's how that's how the world works. But if you are doing things which

is managing four or five people solving problems so that it doesn't come on my plate

>> then you can ask me for whatever you want because that is something that my responsibility like as a founder I am

supposed to solve problems but if you're going to take away some of my problems and do it you can ask me for a 20% 30%

40% hike also >> become irreplaceable. >> Yeah. So right now in my company there

are about 10 people who fit into that category out of 200 people. So it's 5% of people.

>> 5%. Yeah. >> Again, this is also kind of difficult. Probably the only easy thing one can do

is minimize their lifestyle. >> See, that is easier said than done, right? Like it's easy to say, you know,

live in a PG like that. If I go to the extreme, you can live in any part of India for 10,000 rupees a month. Can

still do that. >> Yeah. I could live in a PG. I could now eat the food that the PG only gives,

which might not be nutritious in value. All vegetarian food, which I'm a non-vegetarian. I like nonvage. I could

uh just sit at home during weekends, not meet my friends. Uh I could take the bus to office, change two to three different

buses when I go there. Um I could um probably um not change my outfits every year,

like wear the same thing, only have three outfits for 5 years, which is how our grandparents used to live. You can

still do that, but can you do it? [laughter] >> You can't do it. very very subjective

and personality. >> I just saw your wardrobe, right? You can't do it, right?

>> Yeah. No, it's not possible. >> We are currently immersed in the world of glamour. So,

>> exactly. And it's like the the ways to spend money have increased. Earlier it was a want, now it's a need.

>> Yeah. Um uh say someone who's 24. >> Okay. >> Couple of years into their professional

life. >> Okay. What have you usually noticed is the amount they able to save in Mumbai,

Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai 5k rupees. >> What is their income? 24 years old that it starts with that

>> 40 50k >> 40 50k per month they're probably saving nothing

>> because they're spending it like whatever is left like let's say their rent is 15k

right and uh they're spending 10k on groceries plus the maid who comes and cleans their house so that's what 25k

then they will probably use Uber to come to the office or rickshas that's probably another I don't know 5k 5 to 6k

so that's 30 gone 20 is left then every weekend they'll have to go out obviously so every time they go out minimum

they'll spend a,000 so let's say another 5,000 gone 15,000 rupees is left now these last 15,000 rupees is they're not

until now we only spoke about the wants right sorry the needs which is rent travel and all of that now every month

person will want something as a want now where These wants come from social media. If I see Ranir going to Australia

and chilling, I'll be like, "Bro, I'll at least need to go to Goa, right? If I see that Shahan has bought a BMW or a

Mercedes, I'm like, I'll at least need to get a car which is like an i10 or something like that. If I see that um my

friend has got the new iPhone 17, I will need to at least upgrade my phone and get something." So all of these guys

will have an EMI running because of these wants. These wants are really expensive. They can't buy it outright,

right? But they want it really really bad. They want to go on vacations. They want expensive gadgets. Today you see

there are so many people who have an iPhone. Do all of them can all of them afford the iPhone? No. 60 70% of these

are iPhones are on EMIs. Why? Because it has not it's not a want anymore. It's a need. So each of these guys will have at

least another 5,000 to 10,000 rupees per month going into these EMIs. >> So what's left is 5,000 rupees at at

best. >> So on a human level, either you go into hyper attack mode and figure out your

own fire to be able to increase your income or increase your value at the workplace,

>> right? >> That's your option. If you're young, >> if you're somebody earning 50K per

month, I would say don't bother learning about money. Just learn how to increase your income. That's it.

>> Income could be either >> one problem at a time. >> Yeah. Either you increase your salary or

figure out how to get another source of income by being a freelancer. >> There is nothing else that you can do to

become rich, right? Because even if you are saving 5,000 rupees a month, it's not going to change your life.

>> Yes, you could start it off as a discipline, right? You can start it off to basically understand how investing

works so that in the future when you're actually making money, you actually know what to do with it. I'll give you my

example. So, when I was making 27,000 rupees a month, I was still able to save up to 10,000 a month. The reason for

that is I was staying in a three-bedroom house uh with two of my friends. I took the smallest room with no balcony, no

AC, no attached bathroom, nothing. So, I negotiated my rent to 8,000 a month with those guys. They paid the higher rent.

Then I did not go out every week like my friends used to go. They worked in tech, right? So, one guy was making 75,000 a

month. Another guy was loaded. So they could go out every month. They had girlfriends. They would spend 2 3,000

rupees every month. I could not do that. I used to probably my guilty pleasures were ordering from Swiggy. Like when I'm

tired of eating home-cooked food because eventually you get bored. I'm like once a week let's order something. And when

you order something, you don't order alakati. You order a combo which have three four different things. For maybe

200 rupees you get a combo from mega biryani or from which is popular in Bangalore or from um whatever. Right?

That's that those would be the deals. Then you go out maybe once a month but you don't go to places where there is

entry charge. Cover charge is still fine. You get exchange it with alcohol and food. Some places which are really

really popular will be like entry k if you're a stag you have to pay 5,000 rupees. You don't enter those places but

but that's where all the women are. So people want to go there only. >> Big hate to the guys who stand at the

entrance of those places from my teenage. Go on. >> Yeah. Women get free entry. So guys

[laughter] want to go there only. That's the game right? So you don't do that, right? So you stay you go to normal

places and you don't spend more than 500 rupees every time you go out. You will not purchase expensive electronic items.

You will not upgrade your wardrobe. None of that So if you do that, you're able to save 10,000 rupees a month,

right? And 10,000 rupees a month in a year, you will have a lack. And if you're invested well, it could be one

and a half lakh also. So that's what I did in the beginning. But I was super super obsessed with my work and I was

parally preparing for my GMAT exam cuz I knew that even if I was working at KPMG even if 30k per month if I get a

promotion it'll be 50k per month. I'm not going to change my life. I'm not going to be rich. I need to start making

two lakhs a month. The only way to do that if you're living in India is to get into an MBA college. There's no other

way. But I figured out something. I figured out that if you are able to switch your job at the right time then

you can ask for the moon. Right? Right? Like for example, let us say you worked really hard. You worked for 2 years.

You're up for promotion. You get that promotion. Let's say you got a 20% hike, 25% hike and then maybe 2 3 months later

a head hunter reached out to me from PWC. Now PWC and KPMG are competitors. Right now they don't want their

employees to leave. So PW uh KPMG tried to retain me. PWC wanted me. But PWC eventually ended up paying me a lakh a

month. So from 35 40 40k per month I went to a lakh per a month same job different companies. So sometimes what

happens is if an if you're working really hard and if you are not valued in your organization you know your worth

you need to know what your worth is that's the most important thing most people don't know how much they deserve

like and most people just accept whatever is given to them because they don't know what's their market value. I

knew my market value. I knew that this is how much I'm worth. >> How did you know your market value?

>> It's by doing research and talking to people. Like for example in my same company uh there was another guy who who

graduated from Bits Pilani and we both joined as analyst. My annual CTC was 4 and a half lakhs peranom. He was at 8

lakhs peranom. I'm like I knew it right like he's at double and I'm at half. We're doing the same thing. So obviously

I need to be paid as much as him. So I knew what my value was. I just worked really really hard. Got stellar reviews

from my partners who I worked with. And because of that I I I my confidence increased. Secondly, I worked with very

smart people. The people that I was working with are IM graduates. So I knew exactly how to speak, how to solve

problems, how to uh uh how to present yourself well uh when an interviewer is asking something, how do you sort of

make yourself invaluable to them? So all of that training I got because of that I was able to switch and get a very high

income. So then my income went to one lakh a month right and then I did really well in PWC and my last drawing salary

was about 1.2 2 1.3 lakhs a month. This was 6 years back when I was 25 years old just before I started content. So that

was and then it was also during lockdown happened. I'm at home, no rent, no food expense. Now all of a sudden I'm saving

a lack a month. So that's what helped me. So that's another hack. If you can try to live with your parents until you

are making one and a half, two lakhs a month, that's a big life hack. A lot of people don't want to do it because

there's no privacy. M >> but if you are able to just force yourself to do that for 5 years like

recently I met a physiotherapist so I like I told you I have neck pain I I visit a physio so I met him he's like 32

years old and he's also like you know very much interested in finance and at the end of the session he's like Sharon

tell me how to invest my money you know between me and my wife we have saved 1.2 2 cr rupees. I'm like wow you're a

kotropati at 32. How did that happen? is like uh I just stay with my parents right we are saving a lack a month uh

maybe sometimes more uh every single month and compounding slowly slowly slowly and we have been able to save

this much money nothing he didn't do anything fancy he didn't do he didn't even pick a single stock mutual funds

>> that's it and he rode the wave in the last 5 years when the boom happened post he's a karoti at 32

>> so just by living with his parents >> allows you to focus on the attacking game

>> yeah because the base is really important try to build that foundation quickly

Because see at the age of 30 if he's a karati now his portfolio alone is generating a lakh a month.

>> Okay. >> So he's sort of like having a second income. Now

>> I have one more life question for you. >> Okay. >> So there's a concept called game taping

from the world of sports where you watch your own replays and uh you figure out what you did right and wrong.

>> Okay. >> So game tape your career until now. >> Okay. My career.

>> Yeah. On a human level. Not specifics about what moves you made. is what was your mentality and uh how did you move

forward in the so-called race? >> I I'll give you a game taping on you. >> Okay, please.

>> From the first time I met you at uh Dubai. >> Yes.

>> Uh just the same hunger was present there and the same hunger is present now. That's the commonality like that

you're absolutely not. >> I still remember what you told me that time. I had just started creating

content u 6 months back and u you met me and you're like Shahon you're not a finance expert you're a storyteller

>> did I >> you said me told me this story bro I remember that line well you're a

storyteller remember that that's what makes you stand out >> I remember that

>> you're a media guy like in my eyes you're definitely like I turn to you for my financial advice

>> but uh in media growth happens because of media skills >> uh but on a very human level just too

much hunger present then too much hunger present now. Obviously, what's common is childhood issues,

>> right? [laughter] >> Same as me, same as every other hungry person.

>> Hunger is an outcome of >> childhood trauma. >> Yeah, I agreed. That's true.

>> Taking nothing away from the beautiful mentality our parents gave us. >> This is not a thing on parents.

Childhood trauma can happen through >> students who studied with you, life experiences, etc., etc.

>> True. >> But on a human level, you just had too much hunger. And the reason I highlight

hunger so much is because I see hunger fading away a lot with people in our age group.

>> Almost 99% of people in our age group I see hunger having fully faded away. >> Why do you think so? Hunger has faded

away. >> Yeah. Whatever little hunger was also has faded away. 99% of the people I see

then obviously we go and choose hustlers. >> We hang out with other content creators

to seek out other people who have hunger because that hunger rubs off on you. Correct.

>> But mostly it's faded away, man. I think people have just people depprioritize money, people deprioritize growth,

people uh simplify their lives. I see this a lot. >> Um you know, it's I I but yeah, I at

least lots and lots and lots of people around me, lots of people dealing with quarter life crisis, existential crisis,

but this is not a mental health episode. >> Or is it? [laughter] I I I didn't really know this. I I

didn't really think people have lost their hunger because I I feel like there is no end point, right? Like you said

that you still see the hunger which you saw in me 5 years back even today. >> Yeah. You're the same guy.

>> Uhhuh. Because there is no such uh thing as an end point. Like a lot of people think if I

have this much money and then uh I have achieved a certain thing in my life and now I can rest and relax easy. I don't

think it works that way. I think if you have that kind of mindset you will not be able to succeed if

you're looking at the goal post and thinking okay I need to reach there. >> Define the mindset needed. I think the

mindset is just see in it's it's it's going to sound very philosophical and very simplistic

but I think this has been my moto in life whenever I'm doing anything is to just figure out a better way of living

my life in every aspect >> like lifestyle >> everything like whether it's money

health relationships just figure out a better way to do it because a lot of people are narrow-minded And we think

that whatever we are doing is the right way or whatever our parents taught us is the only way and we are not open to

learning from other people who are different from us. Now I am somebody who has probably changed my personality

changed my way of thinking at least three to four times in the last 5 years. I would not say completely change

constantly evolving and that is because I have the privilege of meeting people who are better than me in certain

aspects of life. Like with respect to money, it's very simple. You just meet people who are richer than you. That's

simple. As simple as that. You need to be close friends with somebody who is at least two to three steps ahead of you.

>> For example, if you are making let's say 50,000 rupees a month, you definitely need to have a friend who is making five

lakh a month. If you don't have that person in your life, it is going to be very difficult

for you to achieve that point because they will unlock those things for you because they've been where you are. So

they will tell you exactly what needs to be done. It's not going to be in an easy way but it is going to be a tried and

tested method which could apply in your life as well. Right? So the first thing is to surround yourself with people who

are in places where you want to be. Now this might be people might think of this as

okay this is a rat race where you're never going to be happy. I would not say it that way. I would say for you to

reach that point in life where you want to achieve let's say I'm making a lakh a month. I need to reach a point where I'm

five lakh a month. What people don't realize for you to achieve that five lakh a month you need to change as a

person yourself first. The same version of you is not going to be able to achieve five lakh a month.

You need to develop some skills in you which will make you a better person and your life improves because of it. So I

feel for me to go to the next step. Let's say for example I'm making cr a month for example and I need to make 10

crores a month. If I reach that point I'm not going to be the same version I am today. Right?

So that mindset is about being hungry to learn those skills from people who are ahead of you. And there's so much to

learn. >> Every time I meet people I get FOMO. I'm like, "Oh my god, this guy is so smart.

So many things he's figured out. So many cool things which I did not even know that that that the world has." And these

are not things that you can Google. These are not things that you can get on a YouTube video. These are things which

are like um life skills, life uh lessons, life's lessons from other people who've been who've done there and

been there before you. So sort of like having a mentor. I would not say mentor like you can call them every week to do

a uh you know to give you some advice. Not that it could be like 20 to 30 different people that you meet in a year

and you get those learnings from different different people. You have interesting conversations with them and

from that conversation you think about it in the night and the next things that you do in life are going to be rubbed

off based on those things that you learned. >> Yeah. You know um people often

associate the word creativity with a creative profession >> but the truth is to actually move

forward in life you need a combination of skill sets and creativity. >> Skill sets will come out of your own

hustle. The creativity comes out of these meetings because you are getting nuggets from everyone

>> right >> then it forms something in your head then you figure pathway for strategy is

creativity. >> Correct. So basically I would categorize it as yes uh the experimentation part of

your day-to-day life. >> How many of you all are actually experimenting every day doing new

things? >> We are all following a routine the same routine which is not even set by

somebody else. >> Are you dedicating at least a couple of hours a day doing something different

something new >> this is not a Gen Z preaching session okay

>> but as millennials >> you're 95 I'm 93 >> right? Do you see a difference between

our generation and genzies when it comes to financial discipline or career approach?

It could be good, it could be bad, whatever. It's very objective. I think everybody at the end of the day

wants the same thing. They want to be content in their life. Now, contentment will definitely come from money. Now,

Gen Z's have figured out that doing what millennials are doing, which is being okay with a 9 to-five job, being

okay with a 5% increment, being okay with a with a boss uh shouting at you. They're like, I'm not going to do that

Like, millionaires are okay. Millionaires are okay with it. I'm not going to be okay with it. Being in the