A Shift Towards Better Individual Financial Planning

I have been contributing with all my heart towards the good of this country by doing adventures, taking risks and going to great lengths. Against all this action of the past few years, it has evolved that a person ‘like’ me doing a job is a joke, doing a job for a salary is bigger joke and losing the money to scams is pathetic form of humanity we can ever see. There is no bigger joke or a sorry state than this. How can I operate like this, how can this even come to pass in such a pathetic state right in front of our eyes. Behind all this there is financial mismanagement happening all along. The money you make is becoming stale, the expenses are growing, the spending is growing, and you end up owing money than saving. I will delve on these financial missteps in this post and given a chance, how to correct ourselves in the future. 

Let me begin by saying that the sole reason why I came to U.S. is higher pay. Leave aside every other reason – I was not made for those. Neither I require the quality of life nor standard of living nor greater desire to work in America. I am very small for all these higher virtues. The main reason turns out to be I would improve in my life personally, financially and professionally with anticipation that the big nation would at least care for these minimum safeguards in a small person like me. I ended up serving than served, taking care than taken care, helping than being helped. This higher pay is main motivation for working for so long against a host of opposing factors which pulls be back day in and day out. For example, I can leave all this and go back to India in a spit second. Why to stay here and wage wars against unknown enemies every day. How can I humanly work against many such opposing forces. It is with a little, minute hope that I would be better off financially. Does this hope became reality in the past three years. It would be a No. I am left in the middle of nowhere after three years. I worked without any gap in U.S. for the last three years and received every paycheck from my dear company. In a proper world, I should have saved a crore rupees by now. Leave a crore, I am struggling for a lakh even now. This struggle is the reason to continue my struggle in U.S. without going back to India, and with a hope the future will be a turnaround of fortunes. 

For me, the first two years can be termed as decent but the last one year is very bad financially. While spending gradually increased for different needs in the past year, I resorted to raise income from other sources. This resulted in getting tricked into scams and frauds which have shaken my very core. I don’t know why this happened and if this is a larger ploy to destroy me. These scamsters are random and I met them through unknown whatsapp chat groups and scam calls impersonating as genuine. Let me tell a bit about these and why one should be careful. I was introduced to two different fraud platforms where people take money from you with a promise of greater returns. Like the many lotteries which goes on widely in this country, I thought this is also a great platform to help economically vulnerable people like me. Little did I know that this is a one-way traffic of taking money but never giving back. They promise greater returns, anniversary bonus etc. to lure you into paying them more. I did this work on chatting for 3 months on two different platforms and with my quality to easily trust others, fell into their trap. As a result of bad time or dangerous efforts from one and all, I was hit very badly where it hurts me the most. On top of huge spending, losing little savings and taking small loans also happened quickly which left me in dangerous territory. Leave about saving a crore, I felt like I was left with nothing and need to owe a bit on top of that. I don’t know why it happened, and this would destroy any poor person who is working with all his might in foreign land. I don’t know why there are no guardrails to protect vulnerable people like me from these life-threatening scams and frauds. While I don’t question their good intentions for me, I question their fraudulent work ethic and their style of operation looting money from poor hard-working people. I receive these scam calls daily 10 times or more and these fake groups popping up two or three times. Why don’t you genuinely help someone by giving money for all that they had gone through which would be a life-changing event for the poor souls. You don’t need to give, but looting from these struggling individuals is a heinous crime in broad day light in this hallowed land. I was left without words for many days and suffered in silence. I was done with running day in and day out till now, went through a lot physically, mentally and emotionally and didn’t expect this in return. 

Let me tell about financial missteps I followed all along after coming to U.S. three years back. I never set aside at least three to six months' worth of expenses to handle unexpected financial setbacks. I never saved any “chicken money” which I cannot afford to lose. I never invested in mutual funds, stocks, or bonds to grow wealth over time. I never considered retirement plans like 401(k) or EPF. I never avoided unnecessary loans and credit card debt. I never avoided impulse spending as I spent on everything required for the work etc. By following all the above and other money management rules, I could have potentially avoided going into those scams. But life can be erratic and unpredictable which has happened in my case. 

Based on all the past errata, I would like to make amends as a person to work and live safely by giving money management top priority. I would follow these rules as below:  

1. Build a Strong Emergency Fund First - Aim to save 3-6 months of essential expenses in a liquid account. Start with a small goal (even $10,000) and build gradually. Keep this money accessible but separate from daily accounts to prevent impulsive spending. This fund creates financial stability before pursuing other financial goals.  

2. Practice Intentional Spending Through Budgeting  - Track spending for 30 days to understand your actual habits. Create a realistic budget that prioritizes needs, savings goals, and then wants. Use the 50/30/20 rule as a starting framework: 50% to needs, 30% to wants, 20% to savings/debt. Review and adjust your budget quarterly to ensure it evolves with your life circumstances. 

3. Reduce Expenses - Cut unnecessary and luxury spending. Cook at home instead of dining out. Use cashback and discount programs. 

4. Avoid New Debt and clear off existing one - Stop using credit cards for non-essential purchases. Delay large expenses until financially stable. 

This money management and strict adherence to rules is important since this defines the scope, extent and limits of my work. It is also anticipated that I would be made financially strong by helping me to that end by one and all and making good of the reason behind working, living in this country. I hope the game is not rigged to work for those who already have money and power in this U.S. but also come to the rescue of poor person like me. My experience proves this not a good hope to have. Let us work for the opposite to create more inclusive, socialist and equalist regime where exploitation ceases and humanity exists. Given a chance to live another three years in U.S., I strongly wish I can change myself in this financial standing. These mistakes which gave me a reason to continue in U.S. need to auto correct if there is another chance. Let us undo the past for a better future. Because financially stable citizens will make financially stable country. To repeat, there is no bigger joke than me working for a job and salary. Let us not make it much bigger by taking away the important necessity from me. For no good work in the country should stop for the want of little funds.