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Priorities of life

On YouTube, I run a series called Money Matters, where I speak to people from all walks of life, trying to understand their financial situation and helping them if I can.
Yesterday, I spoke with Akanksha, who is 21 years old.
Graduated last year.
Family of 4 - father (who is paralysed), mother (who is a homemaker), younger sister (in school) and herself.
The sole earner of the family.

She earns Rs 26,800 per month.
Pays a rent of 7,500.
Medical expenses of Rs. 2,000
Sister's school, grocery, travel etc - another 10,000.
And in the 6,000 odd that she saves, she invests as well.

In the 45 minutes I spoke with her, she always had a smile on her face.
She wants to buy a house for her family soon.
She wants to study further, but cannot right now. So she is saving for that.
And in her words, "she is grateful that she can bear the responsibility of her family at this age."

At the age of 21, with all these responsibilities, I couldn't help but admire her courage and resilience.
Such an inspirational story.

2 weeks back, I spoke with Aman (name changed).
22 years of age.
Earns 1.5 lakhs a month as a software engineer.
Stays in Bangalore by himself.
Parents are financially independent.

And he has, hold your breath, a loan of 15 lakhs!
5L of personal loans.
5L of money app loans.
5L of loans from friends.
Why?

Because he likes to trade.
And has been trading for 3 years now.
And has made a profit only 2 months in the last 3 years.
But he still believes he can recover this amount.
And wanted my help.

I was shocked. Stunned, to be honest.
With this high income he could have gone on to create generational wealth, if he managed his money wisely.
Instead, at the age of 22, he is staring at years of being trapped in a loan.
Not to mention the emotional turmoil that it will bring with it.

So unfortunate.
So unnecessary.

And that left me thinking - why does this happen.
How is it that Akanksha manages her entire family so well in just 26K a month and Aman can't even manage himself in 1.5L/mth.

And here is my explanation.
Akanksha doesn't have options.
Her only option is to stand up and face her situation.

Which is why I often say - the best form of motivation is to remove all options in life.
​You do not know how courageous you are until being courageous is the only option you have.
​(Share on X)​

PS:
In Akanksha's amazing story, there was just one thing missing.
Insurance.
Being the sole earner, I advised her to get term life insurance right away.
A 50L cover at her age would cost only 600-700/month.
And Health insurance for her mother, sister and herself - it would cost an additional 1,400/mth.
She realized the importance of both.
Having seen how her father's health condition affected them financially.

Everyday, I get emails from folks asking what's the right insurance to buy.
And I tell them - I do not know. I am not an expert.
But I know someone who is.

​Ditto Insurance​
With Ditto, you get the best advice on insurance.
Understand your policy, get answers to all your questions, and buy insurance, all at the same place.
They have graciously sponsored this edition of warikoo Wanderings (thank you)
​You can book a free call with their advisors here.

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Book I read this week

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Still reading The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson. It is one of the best books I have read - hands down. So fascinating - it is well written, simple english, lots of facts and data and more than anything else a remarkable tribute to the remarkable thing that our body is.

Please pick it up!
BTW - Bill is the same guy who has written "A short story of nearly everything", which is an awesome book to get a quick, fun recap of the world. He writes really well - in simple terms.

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I have shared several books in this newsletter over the years. A list of all of them can be found here.

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Build An Epic Career

We had a call with Penguin (our publishers) regarding the performance of the book. It has sold over 70,000 copies now, is ranked #2 on the Nielsen Bestseller List in India, and is currently rated 4.8 on Amazon.

But more than that, it is the feedback through emails, DMs, and Instagram stories that I get every day, which make up for so much joy! Thank you for all of it :))

Click to check out "Build An Epic Career" - in English, in Hindi​

Question of the week

Who is/was stricter?

• Your mother
• Your father
• Your siblings
• Your grandparents

(and see the results of others, too)

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Results of last week's question

So a large share of the population isn't using it (yet).
The ones who use use it few times a week and it is clearly a very young phenomenon or an older generation thing. I am surprised though by the below 18yrs number - didn't expect them to be using it so much.
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​My response?​
We have become addicted. Use it several times a day haha

3-2-1
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3 pics from last week

Makes me so happy to see such a frame :)))

Had an amazing time speaking to students at SMBT University, Nashik.

Spent time at JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur - fab time!

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2 quotes I wish to share

If facts hurt someone’s feelings, it is for them to get better feelings, not for us to get better facts.

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Bad bosses have caused some great friendships at work.

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1 new thing I learnt this week

Every hour your heart dispenses around 260 litres of blood.
That's 6,240 litres in a day - more litres pushed through you in a day than you are likely to put in your car in a year!
​Source​
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🎙️ My top content from last week
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📹 YouTube:​ 10 Money Rules for 2025​

📱 Instagram: Is coffee good for you?​

🐥 Twitter: Perks of my team waricrew​

🎧 Podcast: Opportunities​
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You can, of course, always write to me by simply replying to this newsletter.

I love reading all your emails, even though I may not be able to reply to them all.
Yes! I READ ALL MY EMAILS. ALL OF THEM.​
​(Iss saal ke aam aane ki wait ki kasam)

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