'We teach kids to crack IIT, not file an ITR': Analyst in brutal middle-class takedown

India’s middle class is buying gold by the kilo and throwing lavish weddings but can’t plan for a medical emergency. The real crisis? A culture that glorifies struggle and ignores financial literacy.

Analyst Hardik Joshi, in a LinkedIn post, ripped into India’s warped money priorities: “We teach kids to crack IIT, but not how to file an ITR. We buy gold in kilos, but don’t have health insurance. We plan for weddings, but not for retirement.”

For millions of middle-class families, financial planning stops at “beta job lag jaaye toh sab thik ho jaayega.” 

The rest—budgeting, insurance, passive income—is an afterthought.

Joshi called it what it is: “No budgeting. No risk management. No financial literacy. Just vibes and blind faith.”

And the data backs him. According to the National Centre for Financial Education, only 27% of Indian adults are financially literate. Less than 10% of households have retirement plans. Just 20% have health insurance. Most remain unprepared for emergencies, with no term coverage and no savings buffer.

In Joshi’s words: “Generational trauma gets passed down, but not generational financial wisdom.”

This neglect isn’t just bad planning—it’s dangerous. Low financial literacy traps families in cycles of debt, forces reliance on informal lenders, and leaves them exposed during crises. Even in urban areas, awareness of basic financial tools remains below global standards.

The problem runs deep, especially in poorer states and among women. Without a cultural shift, India’s middle class will continue to measure success in gold and ceremonies—while staying one crisis away from collapse.

“Finance isn’t just for the rich,” Joshi warned. “It’s for every middle-class family that wants to stop living paycheck to paycheck.”