Road to financial freedom for a fresh MBA

April is a month when the B school fever is at a peak, both for new admissions as well as for people who have just passed out and are about to embark on their first job. This year I got to meet quite a few of both varieties, courtesy my daughter’s convocation at XLRI and my being a panel member for the IIMC admissions. In one such interaction, I was asked a question – “how long will it take me to be financially independent, if my starting salary is 22 lacs a year and a good life today costs about 1 lac per month for a family?”.

I could not give a straight answer on the spot so I promised to get back to this person. If you look at it logically, we will need to make some assumptions in order to reach a conclusion on this. Let us go…