'Why most Indians stay poor': Hedge fund manager drops truth bomb on country's middle class

Most Indians won’t build real wealth—not because they can’t, but because they’re doing it all wrong. Hedge fund manager and finfluencer Akshat Shrivastava has had enough of the myths—family money, government jobs, or overnight IPOs—and in a no-fluff breakdown, he lays out the hard, unglamorous truth about how to actually become rich in India.

“The first step? Accept that you need money to make money,” Shrivastava says. For middle-class Indians, that means starting with a job—but not just any job. He urges young professionals to land what he calls ‘gold standard jobs’—roles at top-tier companies like McKinsey, Microsoft, or AI labs that “pay you to be trained.”

Why? Because skillset trumps salary early on. “People who get laid off from Meta will still get hired. Those from TCS? Not so easily. That’s the difference brand value makes over time.”

Once the money starts flowing, the next mistake begins: bad investing. Shrivastava says Indians lose wealth slowly and silently by sticking to safe, underperforming assets. 

“Nifty 50’s real CAGR over 20 years, after adjusting for INR depreciation, is around 8%. But QQQM in the US? That’s been 16% in dollar terms. It’s not a 4% gap—it’s a life-altering difference.”

He tears into mutual fund hype: “85% of actively managed funds don’t even beat the index. People blindly invest in what influencers say, never run the math, and miss the compounding game entirely.”

From there, it’s about scaling smart. Once you’ve saved ₹20–50 lakh, Shrivastava says it’s time for ‘wealth explosion’—doubling your capital over 3–5 years. “You won’t get there through PFs, FDs, or rental flats. You need equities. Not reckless bets, but smart, risk-adjusted allocation—up to 80%.”

And what do the truly wealthy do differently? They don’t just earn more—they lose less. “Rich people plan taxes. Middle class pays them blindly.” He points to UAE and Singapore, where capital gains taxes are zero. “If you’ve got ₹3 crore+ in liquid wealth and aren’t thinking globally, you’re already behind.”

His final rule is the most overlooked: buy time. “Throw money to buy time—that’s the ultimate flex. Rich people aren’t working 16-hour days just to prove a point. They use money to stay mentally sharp and make strategic calls. That’s what keeps the wealth growing.”