The fixed income trap

A couple of years ago, I wrote about how India remains fundamentally a fixed-income country. I then showed that even PPF, the best fixed-income option available, delivered only about Rs 60 lakh over 44 years of systematic investment, compared to Rs 2.3 crore from an equivalent investment in the Sensex. That's nearly four times the wealth, the difference between being comfortable and being genuinely wealthy. Yet here we are, still a nation of fixed deposit holders. The question that has been nagging at me lately is this: why does this persist? It's not as if this information is hidden. Mutual fund advertisements are everywhere. Financial literacy campaigns run constantly. The maths is straightforward enough. And still, the behaviour doesn't change meaningfully at scale. Part of the answer lies in understanding who benefits from India's fixation on fixed income. Follow the money, as