Wealth Categorization

Although I believe that the near and dear ones one has, represent one's true wealth, there is no denying that monetary prosperity does play an important role in almost everything else, including facilitation of happiness and well being of those very same loved ones. Here in India, we are brought up hard-wired to certain perceptions of economic strata, as if it were passed down the generations in each family. And while some folks are truly born with a silver spoon in their mouth, others come from relatively more humble backgrounds. But does that confine us to remain at the same level throughout our lives? I think not...

So, if we had to classify the various financial classes as per their buying power, also taking into account common notion in the public eye, we would probably end up with a table like this.

Now, referring to the above list, although in reality the change from one strata to another is a gradual one and doesn't have a well-defined boundary line even as commonly perceived, I have tried to quantify a qualitative approach as far as possible. And while one does not have any control over how one is born, I think more important is one's ability to contribute to societal progress, in turn climbing the fiscal ladder, which opens up further avenues for personal and professional success, as signified by the growing net worth down the ten rows tabulated above, which I think capture a detailed realistic picture of a prevalent generalization today, excluding only may be a few outliers.