Middle-Class to Money-Class: How One Man Cashed in ₹25 Cr the Smart Way

Key Highlights

 

With a society obsessed with luxury cars and designer brands, an Instagram post by CA Nitin Kaushik has brought back the question: should one look rich or be rich? A middle-class working professional who built a Rs 25 crore portfolio in unassuming silence offers a convincing answer, debunking the myth of prosperity propagated on social media.

 

•⁠  ⁠The Rs 25 Crore Portfolio: What's the Real Story

 

The man started off with a decent salary and no inheritance or business windfall. Rather than spending to impress, he invested in prudent saving, investment, and professional advancement. In the early stages of his career, he saved a major part of his income—sometimes even 75% once he relocated to his hometown and stopped paying rent. This helped him consistently build up his investment corpus, mainly in the form of equity mutual funds and stocks, leveraging the time value of money.

 

He emphasized education, earning an MBA that provided him with a significant income boost over classmates who entered the workforce earlier. During booms and busts in the market, he refrained from speculative manias and clung to tried-and-true methods for investing, focusing on delayed gratification and debt avoidance.

 

•⁠  ⁠Being Rich vs Appear Rich

 

Kaushik's viral post compares the humble millionaire to the flashy borrower: one owns a humble car that costs Rs 25 crore, while the other owns flashy cars but only has a fraction of the money. The moral is evident—actual wealth hinges on financial acumen, not extravagance.

 

In India, where lifestyle inflation tends to masquerade as prosperity, the story is a reminder that true economic independence is a result of wise, long-term investment—instead of chasing illusions.

 

•⁠  ⁠Takeaway 

 

The path to genuine wealth is paved with consistent saving, discerning investing, career development, and refraining from excessive spending for personal validation. As the story here suggests, you don't necessarily need to look rich in order to be rich.

 

Sources: Economic Times, Asianet Newsable, Womanias, OdishaTV