Sensibull CEO Abid Hassan has a word of advice for Indian youngsters who are looking for financial independence: Don’t rely on finance influencers peddling insecurity and fake promises under the guise of selling courses.
Hassan spoke out against the way new-age influencers casually talk about massive sums of money such as ₹10 crore or 20 crore, saying it creates unnecessary insecurity and fuels scammy financial products.
Not a normal expectation
“10 Crore is a huge number. 20 Crore is an even bigger life-changing number that one can only be grateful for. In a country like ours, it is not a normal or baseline expectation - even for the upper middle class,” the CEO of Sensibull said in an X post.
“I despise many things about the new age crop of influencers that mushroomed after COVID. But my number 1 problem is that they talk about these huge numbers like it is nothing,” he added.
The Bengaluru-based CEO said that influencers often drop these large numbers casually to make their audience feel bad, and thereby sell their own products.
{{/usCountry}}The Bengaluru-based CEO said that influencers often drop these large numbers casually to make their audience feel bad, and thereby sell their own products.
{{/usCountry}}“Why do they do that? To make you feel bad, insecure, and inadequate. Why? Because they have their courses to sell, peddling greed and insecurity, promising you that you can achieve financial freedom like they did,” he explained.
Financial freedom a distant dream for influencers
Hassan added that most influencers selling these aspirational courses and promising ₹10 crore net worths have not achieved financial freedom themselves. “Because, let us face it, why would people who achieved financial independence sell 5000 ₹courses, or keep DM open for crypto, and other fraudulent pump and dump collabs? Why not just retire and live a good life?” he asked.
How to achieve financial independence
For Hassan, the way to financial independence and early retirement (FIRE) — a dream peddled by many influencers — is certainly not paved with masterclasses in finance.
“A very young person is better off deep diving into his or her competence, and upskilling, and doing some world-changing shit. Not doing this 10-hour masterclass worth 1 Lakh rupees for putting some 20,000 ₹SIP in some flexicap fund,” he said.
“Or selling some stupid time-based option strategy. And definitely not this credit card optimization bullshit. No one got rich doing that,” Hassam added.
Hassan urged young people not to compare themselves with others and instead focus on meaningful growth and their careers. “So if you have not hit the number or figured out the way how to, do not worry.
“Do not compare yourself with others who have - it will only affect your mental health and make you anxious and worse off. Focus on learning, upskilling, living in the present, making the best of it, and most importantly, having a good life,” he said.