A man who recently reached a personal savings milestone of ₹15 lakh has opened up on Reddit about feeling guilty after watching his parents continue to economise on everyday expenses despite his financial position.
In a post titled, ‘I secretly hit ₹15 Lakhs in savings today, but sitting at dinner with my family just broke my heart’, the man said that he had expected reaching the milestone to make him feel proud. Instead, he found himself struggling with guilt.
“I am typing this from my room while my parents are watching TV outside. Today I hit a personal savings milestone that I thought would make me super proud. Instead I just feel guilty and depressed,” he wrote.
He recalled a conversation at dinner where his father was worried about the electricity bill, while his mother said she was delaying buying new glasses to save money. “My dad worked hard his whole life and sacrificed everything so I could earn well today and no tensions,” he wrote.
The man said that he wanted to tell his parents to spend the money and let him cover their expenses. However, he was hesitant to disclose how much he had saved, fearing that his parents might put the money into traditional fixed deposits or that relatives could learn about his savings.
{{/usCountry}}The man said that he wanted to tell his parents to spend the money and let him cover their expenses. However, he was hesitant to disclose how much he had saved, fearing that his parents might put the money into traditional fixed deposits or that relatives could learn about his savings.
{{/usCountry}}“So I sat there ate my dinner and stayed silent. It feels surreal living two lives tracking numbers on my laptop while watching my parents hesitate over a ₹2,000 expense,” he wrote.
Concluding the post, he asked Reddit users how they deal with similar feelings of guilt when their financial circumstances are different from those of their parents.
What did social media say?
The post prompted several users to suggest helping his parents with specific expenses rather than revealing his entire savings.
One user wrote, “Instead of feeling the guilt, you can just buy her glasses, pay off some bills, buy something new for the home.. It won't cost you lakhs.. Few thousands maybe. And for that you don't have to mention your whole savings.”
“Don’t tell you have 15L, just cover the immediate expenses like glasses and electricity bill. Say I got temporary bonus/reward for last quarter work,” commented another.
“Um either help them wholeheartedly or tell them you have some spare cash(2-3 lakhs) and you can offer it to them as per their needs. I understand your pain, do keep money aside for yourself first before helping out family. And don't be resentful if they still choose to spend it like water, because you agreed to lend it to them, be ready to part with it,” wrote a third user.
“Don't get into family budget specifics or let them get into your financial specific, simply transfer your mom a fixed sum each month from your income, let her figure out where to spend that. If you make 1L+ then 15k is good a decent amount. Otherwise go lower,” suggested one user.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)