How India Allows You To Stay Richer Than The Rest
In 1953, Ram Kumar who was then, 23, was the first person in his village to have obtained a law degree. He can still not forget how proud he had made his parents, a feeling which was shared by fellow villagers, too. When he turned to the city, Allahabad to be precise, to try his luck in the legal profession, he turned a common man overnight. The city dwellers found nothing extraordinary in his academic achievement, it appeared. Life moved on and Kumar turned into a lawyer good enough to earn a decent living and make a name for himself. By and by, he became the best-known lawyer in his town. Maybe he did not earn as much as his peers in Delhi did, but he was more proud of the fact that most people in his town knew who he was, something not many lawyers in the national capital can boast of.
If you have a mindset similar to that of Kumar, India is indeed the place for you. We have a tendency to create and adore celebrities. This is true even when we are speaking strictly in financial terms.
Sample this.
According to the finding of a survey by Bloomberg, chief executive officers (CEO) in South Africa and India "take home more than the estimated income generated by an average worker — out-earning their American colleagues on a relative basis". "If your life's goal is to be a highly paid chief executive officer, the US is the place. But if your dream is just to be richer than society, South Africa and India are great bets," says the report.
What in India allows you to have it better than the rest, then? The answer is hidden in four keys — size, cost of living, culture and regulations.
The size of the economy is perfect for you to have the best of it all. From multinationals to domestic giants, you have millions of options to choose from, helping you pay package to swell as you grow professionally. On the other hand, the cost of living in India is not as high as it is in European or American countries. This means you will save more than your peer who, say, work in the New York office. Now comes into the picture the culture of the country. Unlike, say, Japan where huge salary packages are "considered a sign of greed", India's developing economy is quite friendly to towards the rich. Those big bucks would come back to fuel the economy in some or the other way. A high-flying CEO, for instance, would mean better business for the luxury fashion brands operating in the country.
Now come regulations. While there is no denying the fact that taxes cause a huge dent in the overall earnings, the savings that you make elsewhere make up for the damage at this front. To buy a plush property in Mumbai you do not have to spend as much as you would in Hong Kong, for instance. It is worth mentioning here that Hong Kong real estate is the world's least affordable. However, when it comes to CEO earnings in comparison with society, the nation-state is way behind India. In fact, you can enjoy similar facilities in India in prices that way below you peers in other Asian countries without running the risk of the society think you "greedy".
Also read:
Why Expecting Property Prices To See A Great Fall Is Only Wishful Thinking