Comfort with loans is worrying - young must learn to plan, not just spend: Prableen Bajpai of FinFix Research

Prableen Bajpai, founder of FinFix Research

A key concern in society today is the increasing ease with which people are embracing credit and loans, when what we really need is to set clear budgets and chart a sound financial path, said Prableen Bajpai, founder of FinFix Research, during a panel discussion titled "Young and Wealthy: Instilling a Savings Mindset Among the Youth", held on the sidelines of Network18’s Rising Bharat Summit.

When it comes to planning one's financial journey, Prableen highlighted the importance of setting spending limits. “Foreign trips are frequently financed through personal loans. Even weddings, where the budget can range from as little as Rs 10,000 to as much as Rs 10 crore, demand financial discipline. It’s not about denying yourself a designer bag—it’s about planning ahead and being intentional about your spending,” she explained.

She also pointed out a notable shift in how people perceive affordability. “Instead of evaluating whether something is worth Rs 1 crore, we now just look at whether the EMI is Rs 1 lakh. This mindset is problematic,” she noted.

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Prableen urged young earners to develop the habit of saving at least 20 to 25 percent of their income and to maintain those savings in the bank. “A monthly SIP of Rs 10,000 started at age 25 can grow to Rs 3.5 crore by age 55. If you increase the SIP by 10 percent each year, that number can rise to Rs 8.5 crore after 30 years. On the other hand, if someone begins a SIP of Rs 10,000 at the age of 45, it would only amount to Rs 23 lakh by 55. Even if they step it up by 50 percent annually, the final corpus would be around Rs 1.8 crore. That individual would then need to save 16 times more to catch up. The lesson is clear—start early and remain consistent. Without the discipline of regular investing, we cannot expect to achieve real financial well-being,” she explained.

Commenting on the recent market volatility in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff stance, Prableen added that young investors must become more aware of their risk tolerance. “If you're investing, you must stay invested and support the markets through every sukh-dukh—whether it's boom or bust,” she said.

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