
Economic Times reports that CA Nitin Kaushik has warned young professionals against spending salary hikes entirely on lifestyle upgrades. He says a 15% raise often leads to a costlier flat or a…
Economic Times reports that CA Nitin Kaushik has warned young professionals against spending salary hikes entirely on lifestyle upgrades. He says a 15% raise often leads to a costlier flat or a luxury car, eating up the extra cash before any of it reaches investments. Kaushik recommends directing at least 50% of every salary hike into existing monthly SIPs to accelerate compounding. His blunt point: if investments do not grow with income, you are merely upgrading expenses, not building wealth.

The advice to invest half of every raise makes sober arithmetic sense, but it assumes all hikes are pure disposable income. Many young earners face steep rent hikes, medical costs or family obligations that are not discretionary spending. Painting every lifestyle upgrade as a luxury ignores these real-world pressures. The real test is not whether you spend the hike, but whether your savings rate as a percentage of income goes up year on year. If that number is flat, the warning holds: you are upgrading expenses, not wealth.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
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