States » EastPosted at: Sep 27 2026 6:42PM


Beyond savings: A simpler way to plan your financial future

Kolkata, Sep 27 (UNI) A new job, a home loan, marriage, children and eventually retirement — life comes with a long list of expenses, but few people plan for all of them at once.
Dr Subhankar Dasgupta's The Smart Money Blueprint seeks to make personal finance easier to understand for Indian households, with practical advice on managing money, planning for major life goals and making informed investment decisions.
The book seeks to simplify financial planning for ordinary households, covering everything from managing monthly expenses and protecting income through insurance to investing in mutual funds and SIPs, planning for children's education and retirement, and avoiding financial frauds and common investment mistakes.
With experience in financial analysis, fee-based planning, investment and wealth management, Dr Dasgupta also works as a financial educator.
Explaining the idea behind the book, Dasgupta said he wanted people to be able to plan their finances independently rather than simply choosing products recommended by financial institutions.
"There ought to be a book that enables people to handle their own financial planning—something very simple, devoid of overly technical jargon. The issue is that when you deal with the banking, mutual fund, or insurance sectors—whether it's the employees or the agents—their primary agenda is sales. Naturally, they are bound by the financial planning frameworks imposed on them; there is little they can do about that. Yet, whichever company you approach, they will insist that their product is the best and that all others are inferior. No one really considers proper financial planning from the customer's perspective," he observed.
He said financial planning is often postponed until people have already accumulated several responsibilities. Dasgupta observed that many people in their twenties focus on immediate milestones such as buying a house and starting a family, while putting off decisions about retirement and other long-term goals.
"Retirement planning at twenty-five?" They only start thinking about it when they turn forty-five. Consequently, they fail to save even twenty per cent of the amount they could have accumulated by age sixty. They disregard inflation and lose out significantly on potential savings. Moreover, there are social obligations and the desire for a lavish lifestyle—there are so many temptations. So, someone whose baseline expense is fifty thousand rupees will easily end up spending eighty thousand if they live in a major city. Much of this spending happens via credit cards, leading to huge bills," he said.
The objective, Dasgupta said, is to enable people to build their own financial plans instead of simply accepting products recommended by banks, insurance companies or mutual fund agents.
Economist and Government and Public Relations Advisor Suparno Moitra called for financial literacy to become part of school education. He pointed to the changing financial priorities of younger Indians and said they needed a basic understanding of money from an early age. "We are trying to invest, but the bigger problem is how to put money in people's hands."
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