CA says Rs 1 crore goals are outdated. His advice: Stop chasing flat targets

For many Indians, Rs 1 crore has long been seen as the golden number—the milestone that guarantees a comfortable retirement and financial freedom. But as CA Abhishek Walia pointed out in a recent LinkedIn post, that number may be far less powerful than it seems. Inflation, the silent wealth-killer, chips away at purchasing power so steadily that by the time you hit your target, it might already feel like too little, too late.

Walia broke it down with a simple example. At just 7% inflation, Rs 1 crore today would shrink to the equivalent of around Rs 25–26 lakh in 20 years. That’s a staggering 75% loss in value without spending a single rupee. Every day costs paint the same story—a school fee of Rs 1 lakh today could balloon to Rs 4 lakh in two decades, while a medical procedure costing Rs 5 lakh now may shoot up to nearly Rs 19 lakh.

This is why, according to Walia, planning with a fixed number like Rs 1 crore is misleading. Instead of chasing flat targets, he advised factoring in inflation at every stage. His suggestions were clear: set goals that outpace inflation, lean on growth assets like equity for long-term wealth, and pair them with safety nets to balance risk. In his words, Rs 1 crore isn’t the finish line—it’s just the starting point.


Can your 9-5 job make you rich?
CA Nitin Kaushik added another layer to the conversation, highlighting that the real trap isn’t the 9-to-5 grind—it’s lifestyle inflation. A steady job can, in fact, make you wealthy, but spending every rupee you earn leaves you stuck in financial quicksand. His math was simple: if you earn Rs 1,00,000 a month and save and invest just Rs 20,000 of it at a 12% CAGR, you could build over Rs 7.3 crore in 30 years. The formula, as Kaushik put it, is straightforward—work, save, invest, and repeat.