Archive · 19 Aug 2026
High Earners Feel Broke? Five-Step Audit Reveals Why
Some people earn a lot but still do not have enough money left over.
Investment adviser Abhijit Kumar suggests checking your finances in five steps.
First, add up every loan payment and EMI.
Next, find subscriptions and other charges you no longer need.
Then arrange for savings to be invested as soon as your salary arrives.
Before investing for other goals, build enough emergency money to cover six months.
Finally, divide your monthly savings by your take-home pay.
This helps show whether the problem is a low salary or money being spent without a plan.
A client earning ₹2.1 lakh monthly believed his EMIs totaled ₹35,000, but the actual amount was ₹68,000.
The adviser recommends keeping total EMIs below 40% of take-home income and home-loan payments below 30%.
People are advised to cancel unused subscriptions, app renewals, delivery charges and memberships after identifying them.
Moving SIP auto-debits to the first or second day of the month can prioritize investing before spending.
A six-month emergency fund and a calculated savings rate can reveal whether financial strain is caused by spending leaks.
- Who
- Abhijit Kumar, a SEBI-registered investment adviser, and high-earning clients seeking to improve their finances.
- What
- Kumar proposed a five-step, 20-minute audit covering EMIs, unplanned charges, SIP timing, emergency savings and the savings rate.
- When
- The timing of Kumar’s LinkedIn post was not specified.
- Where
- The advice was shared on LinkedIn.
- Why
- To help people identify spending leaks, increase savings and understand why they feel financially stretched despite earning well.
- Example monthly income
- ₹2.1 lakh
- Client’s expected EMIs
- ₹35,000
- Client’s actual EMIs
- ₹68,000, or 32% of take-home pay
- Recommended total EMI limit
- Below 40% of take-home income
- Unplanned charges often discovered
- ₹4,000 to ₹9,000
- Emergency-fund target
- Six months of expenses
- Savings-rate benchmarks
- Below 10% indicates a spending leak; 10%-20% is adequate; above 25% indicates wealth creation