Akshat Shrivastava busts investing myths; shares 5 golden lessons to escape middle-class trap; Here's what he says

NEW DELHI: Akshat Shrivastava , an investor and entrepreneur has sparked a fresh debate on financial freedom , this time with a blunt and thought-provoking post on X.

Known for his straight-talking views on personal finance and macroeconomics, Shrivastava shared five key lessons from his own journey of breaking out of the middle-class trap, challenging widely held beliefs about earning, investing, and building wealth in India.

1) Making money in India is tough

Drawing from his own experience of "escaping the middle class," he starts with a blunt truth: "Making money in India is tough."

Shrivastava compares it to running with an anchor tied to your legs—thanks to taxes, inflation, and a heavily broker-driven economy. His advice is clear: don’t rely only on investing to grow wealth. "Earn, save, hustle—make money. Investing alone won’t make you rich. Stop with the trading BS," he wrote on X.

2) This does not mean investing is not important

"That doesn’t mean investing is unimportant. If you do NOT invest well, you are working your way to poverty," Shrivastava said.

He warned against passive low-return investments like fixed deposits, which often fail to beat inflation, saying, "If you’re growing wealth at 5% post-tax while inflation is at 10%, you’re losing money."

Instead, he urges people to make smarter, higher-return investments that can keep up with or beat inflation.

As someone who escaped the middle class. Here are 5 hard lessons I would like to share:-

1) Making money in India is tough. You have an anchor tied to your legs (in the form of taxes).

Earn, save, hustle -- make money. Investing alone won't make you rich. So stop with the… https://t.co/ZnkAIZkmcX

— Akshat Shrivastava (@Akshat_World) July 9, 2025

3) Be contrarian. That's our only hope of winning

"Be contrarian. That's our only hope of winning," he said. If everyone is investing in SIPs and mutual funds, he warns, it’s unlikely those tools alone will build real wealth.

He even compares them to ULIPs (unit-linked insurance plans) that were once heavily marketed but underperformed due to hidden charges and poor returns, saying, "Be rest assured that you are not becoming rich in the long-term via that. It might very well become the new ULIPs."

4) Cut the middleman in everything

Shrivastava also highlights a major challenge in the Indian economy—intermediaries. "India is a broker economy. It starts from the top and percolates to the bottom. They eat into everything like parasites. And, make you hollow," he posted.

His advice is to cut them out wherever possible, whether you're buying property, investing, or doing business. "Try to cut them as much as possible (be it in buying a house, stocks, whatever)," he added.

5) Learn. Grow. And, be positive

Finally, he emphasises the importance of a realistic mindset. "Being positive doesn’t mean living in a la-la land," he asserted. Instead, he suggests acknowledging the challenges, finding solutions, and working through them with discipline and purpose.

Akshat Shrivastava, an INSEAD alumnus and founder of Wisdom Hatch, has often turned everyday money challenges into valuable life lessons. This isn't the first time he's used his experience to offer practical financial advice.