By buld_online 
What if earning ₹70 lakh a year still leaves you with nothing at the end of the month?
That’s the unsettling truth investment banker Sarthak Ahuja lays bare in a LinkedIn post. “₹70 Lakh p.a. is the New Middle Class,” Ahuja writes, revealing how even high-earning individuals in cities like Mumbai, Gurgaon, and Bangalore are finding themselves financially squeezed.
His breakdown is stark: ₹70 lakh in gross annual income, minus ₹20 lakh in taxes, leaves ₹50 lakh—or about ₹4.1 lakh per month. But the expenses eat away almost everything.
A ₹2 crore home loan costs ₹1.7 lakh in EMIs. A ₹20 lakh car loan takes ₹65,000. Add ₹50,000 for international school fees and ₹15,000 for domestic help. “This leaves you with just ₹1 Lakh for all other expenses,” Ahuja notes.
That last ₹1 lakh must stretch across groceries, fuel, utilities, healthcare, leisure, and even vacation savings. “By the end of the month, there’s nothing left!!!” he warns.
Ahuja identifies three culprits: runaway inflation in metro cities, real estate priced at 10–30 times annual incomes, and aspirational lifestyles driven by social media.
“Literally, three things are making everyone living in a metro city in India sub-middle class,” he says. His advice is sharp: “Think twice before you sign up for a housing loan!”
Echoing this concern is Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Marcellus Investment Managers, who has repeatedly warned about the middle class’s growing debt burden. Citing Reserve Bank of India data, Mukherjea estimates that 5–10% of Indian middle-class households are now in a debt trap.
He points to financial savings being at a 50-year low, while non-mortgage debt is among the highest globally—often used to fund cars, electronics, holidays, and luxury goods.
“The rise of digital finance tools has made borrowing frictionless,” Mukherjea warns, adding that social media pressure is pushing families to spend beyond their means. He sees a worrying pattern of distress: from microfinance to personal loans, and now credit card defaults and two-wheeler loan stress. “Home and car loans could be next,” he cautions.