'How a car in India keeps you broke': Middle class mistaking liabilities for assets, warns advisor

With mutual funds sliding, job insecurity rising, and inflation pinching wallets, Moneydhan.com founder Sujith SS is urging India’s salaried class to face a new financial reality—one where EMIs, not investments, are eating away at long-term security.

“Last 11 months, Mutual Funds have given negative returns. AI fear has caused job layoff fears in IT. Other companies are using it as a scare tactic to avoid salary hikes,” Sujith wrote in a post gaining traction on LinkedIn. “Life became tough just in past 3–4 months.”

He lists the pain points: rising school fees, aggressive 10-minute delivery apps, and Buy-Now-Pay-Later schemes turning salaries into sand. And with investment growth stalling, the pressure is more visible than ever.

From 2020 to 2024, investors saw easy double-digit gains. That era, Sujith argues, masked poor financial choices. Now, those choices are coming home to roost.

To illustrate, he introduces two contrasting characters—Raj and Riya. Raj spends ₹2 lakh on a downpayment for a ₹15 lakh car, then locks into a ₹21,000 EMI for seven years. Riya buys a used car for ₹2 lakh and invests that same ₹21,000 monthly in a SIP earning 12% annually.

Fast-forward seven years: Raj owns a depreciated ₹6 lakh car. Riya holds ₹25 lakh in investments and still drives her old vehicle.

“People often mistake liabilities for assets,” Sujith wrote. “The showroom makes you feel like a king. The EMI makes you its slave.”

His message: status symbols don’t build wealth—discipline does. “The real rich don’t buy toys first. They let money compound until toys feel cheap.”

As economic pressures tighten, Sujith’s financial cautioning is striking a chord with a middle class caught between past optimism and present strain.