HYDERABAD: With mass retrenchments in the IT sector this year, there is now focus on financial planning and money management so that techies can tide over unexpected setbacks in their careers. A majority of techies, especially those at junior levels, however, are said to be lacking on this front. Just the fact that most don’t even set aside a part of their salary to be able to meet expenses for a few months in case of sudden job loss exposes their poor financial literacy, experts say.
According to Deepa Nittala, a certified fin-ancial planner, a 2016 global attitudes survey showed that employees struggling financially are reporting stress and health issues. She said that a study of the spending patterns of techies shows that they are not thinking enough about what their needs and important events would be over the next 5-10 years and accordingly spend, save and invest their salaries .
“Having obtained good salary packages, techies prefer to invest in a ho-me or buy a car, paying EMIs over 15-20 years, besides applying for cre-dit cards. A major chunk of their earnings go into paying these EMIs and they find themselves hard pressed to meet their financial needs after marriage or for important events in the future. Many think of the credit card limit as their back up to meet expenses, which is not right,” Ms Nittala says.
Techies should ensure they don’t default on loans in unforeseen circumstances before going in for savings and investments, apart from taking care of monthly, essential spends, she adds. Vellala Ghanshyam, director in a city IT firm, says that inculcating financial wellness thinking is the need of the hour for techies. “Youngsters land jobs with good pay immediately after completing studies, and the next thing they do is go on a spending spree. They don’t build a back up and hence land in financial woes in case of any unexpected setback,” he said. Mr Shyam felt that financial discipline should be inculcated early on so that techies make it a life-long habit.
