u/Conscious_Number_738

One of my flatmates, who was just 25, recently passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack.

He was the only stable earner in his family. His parents are dependent on him and his younger brother is in 12th.

After his death, his family asked us for help figuring out his finances. He was the only one managing everything, and they had very little idea about where he had invested.

They were trying to figure out things like mutual funds, stocks, PPF/EPF, FDs, gold, bank accounts, term/health insurance, etc.

It made me think about my own situation.

I'm also a single/primary earner supporting my parents and sister. If something happened to me tomorrow, would my family know about every account, investment, insurance policy and liability I have?

So I'm curious how do people actually handle this in India?

Do you keep a spreadsheet, Google Drive, physical file, will, password manager, or give someone in your family a complete list?

And if you've actually dealt with a family member's finances after their death. How did you find everything they owned, and how difficult was it to claim/transfer it?

Would really appreciate experiences from people who've gone through this.

One of my flatmates, who was just 25, recently passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack.

He was the only stable earner in his family. His parents are dependent on him and his younger brother is in 12th.

After his death, his family asked us for help figuring out his finances. He was the only one managing everything, and they had very little idea about where he had invested.

They were trying to figure out things like mutual funds, stocks, PPF/EPF, FDs, gold, bank accounts, term/health insurance, etc.

It made me think about my own situation.

I'm also a single/primary earner supporting my parents and sister. If something happened to me tomorrow, would my family know about every account, investment, insurance policy and liability I have?

So I'm curious, how do people actually handle this in India?

Do you keep a spreadsheet, Google Drive, physical file, will, password manager, or give someone in your family a complete list?

And if you've actually dealt with a family member's finances after their death. How did you find everything they owned, and how difficult was it to claim/transfer it?

Would really appreciate experiences from people who've gone through this.

I'm looking for some career advice because I'm at a crossroads.

I currently work as an SDE 1 at a Big Tech company with around 3 years of experience. My current compensation is around ₹1.4L/month post-tax, along with RSUs worth roughly ₹7L per year. Unfortunately, my promotion has been delayed multiple times because of constant team reorganizations, and it doesn't seem like it'll happen anytime soon.

At the same time, I'm in the Google L4 team matching stage. My recruiter has told me that team matching could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, and of course, there's no guarantee of finding a match.

Meanwhile, I have an offer from the largest private hospital chain in the Middle East. The role is based in Saudi Arabia and pays around $5,000/month or 18000SAR tax-free (around ₹4.5L/month).

The role is officially a Supply Chain Analytics position, but a significant part of the work involves building AI-powered automations, AI engineering, internal AI tools, and intelligent workflows for the supply chain organization. I'd be reporting directly to the Director of Supply Chain, so it seems like a high-impact role with a lot of ownership. However, it isn't a traditional Software Engineering role.

My biggest concern is this: if I accept the Saudi role, will I be making it significantly harder to return to a pure Software Engineering role in the future?

Has anyone here transitioned from an analytics/business-focused role with significant software and AI development back into an SWE role at a tech company? How difficult was it?

If you were in my position, would you:

- Wait for the Google L4 team match, despite the uncertainty?

- Take the Saudi offer and see where it leads?

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who've made similar career decisions or who have experience switching between these kinds of roles. My long-term goal is still to keep the option of returning to Big Tech as an SWE if I choose to.

I'm looking for some career advice because I'm at a crossroads.

I currently work as an SDE 1 at a Big Tech company with around 3 years of experience. My promotion has been delayed multiple times because of constant team reorganizations, and it doesn't seem like it'll happen anytime soon.

At the same time, I'm in the Google L4 team matching stage. My recruiter told me that team matching could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, and there's no guarantee of finding a match.

Meanwhile, I have an offer from the largest private hospital chain in the Middle East. The role is based in Saudi Arabia and pays around $5,000/month (tax-free). The position is an Analytics + AI Engineer role, where I'd be reporting directly to the Director of Supply Chain. The work would involve building AI-driven automations, internal tools, and analytics solutions. It's a mix of software engineering, AI, and business analysis rather than a traditional backend/frontend SWE role.

My biggest concern is this: if I accept the Saudi role, will I be making it significantly harder to return to a pure Software Engineering role in the future? Has anyone here successfully transitioned back from an analytics/AI/business-focused role to an SWE role at a tech company?

If you were in my position, would you:

- Wait for the Google L4 team match (with no guarantee and an uncertain timeline), or

- Take the Saudi offer and see where it leads?

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who've made similar career decisions or switched between these kinds of roles.

I'm 25 and work as a Software Engineer at a top product company. My take-home salary is around ₹1.3L per month after taxes, but somehow I still struggle to make it through every month.

A bit of background: when I was in 12th grade, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's. He had to retire early because he could no longer work, and my family took on loans just to keep things going. Now that I'm earning, I've taken responsibility for repaying one of those loans, which costs me around ₹40k every month in EMIs.

On top of that, I send about ₹45k home every month. That covers my parents' living expenses as well as my dad's medical bills. I live in Hyderabad, where I spend roughly ₹40k a month on rent and day-to-day expenses, plus another ₹5k or so on miscellaneous things.

By the end of the month, my bank account is usually close to zero.

What makes it harder is seeing friends and colleagues steadily building their portfolios, investing every month, and talking about financial independence, while I feel like I'm barely staying afloat. My annual bonus usually goes toward my sister's education, so I don't really get to save that either.

The only assets I have are around ₹20L worth of RSUs from work and an emergency fund of about ₹1.5L. I don't have any life or health insurance outside of what my employer provides.

Lately, I've been feeling like a failure. I know I'm supporting my family and doing what needs to be done, but it's hard not to feel guilty when I see my savings account empty every month. On top of that, I feel stuck in my job and don't know how to improve my financial situation without compromising my family's needs.

Has anyone here been in a similar position? How did you deal with the guilt of not saving, and what would you do if you were in my shoes?

I'm 25 and work as a Software Engineer at a top product company. My take-home salary is around ₹1.3L per month after taxes, but somehow I still struggle to make it through every month.

A bit of background: when I was in 12th grade, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's. He had to retire early because he could no longer work, and my family took on loans just to keep things going. Now that I'm earning, I've taken responsibility for repaying one of those loans, which costs me around ₹40k every month in EMIs.

On top of that, I send about ₹45k home every month. That covers my parents' living expenses as well as my dad's medical bills. I live in Hyderabad, where I spend roughly ₹40k a month on rent and day-to-day expenses, plus another ₹5k or so on miscellaneous things.

By the end of the month, my bank account is usually close to zero.

What makes it harder is seeing friends and colleagues steadily building their portfolios, investing every month, and talking about financial independence, while I feel like I'm barely staying afloat. My annual bonus usually goes toward my sister's education, so I don't really get to save that either.

The only assets I have are around ₹20L worth of RSUs from work and an emergency fund of about ₹1.5L. I don't have any life or health insurance outside of what my employer provides.

Lately, I've been feeling like a failure. I know I'm supporting my family and doing what needs to be done, but it's hard not to feel guilty when I see my savings account empty every month. On top of that, I feel stuck in my job and don't know how to improve my financial situation without compromising my family's needs.

Has anyone here been in a similar position? How did you deal with the guilt of not saving, and what would you do if you were in my shoes?

I'm 25 and work as a Software Engineer at a top product company. My take-home salary is around ₹1.3L per month after taxes, but somehow I still struggle to make it through every month.

A bit of background: when I was in 12th grade, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's. He had to retire early because he could no longer work, and my family took on loans just to keep things going. Now that I'm earning, I've taken responsibility for repaying one of those loans, which costs me around ₹40k every month in EMIs.

On top of that, I send about ₹45k home every month. That covers my parents' living expenses as well as my dad's medical bills. I live in Hyderabad, where I spend roughly ₹40k a month on rent and day-to-day expenses, plus another ₹5k or so on miscellaneous things.

By the end of the month, my bank account is usually close to zero.

What makes it harder is seeing friends and colleagues steadily building their portfolios, investing every month, and talking about financial independence, while I feel like I'm barely staying afloat. My annual bonus usually goes toward my sister's education, so I don't really get to save that either.

The only assets I have are around ₹20L worth of RSUs from work and an emergency fund of about ₹1.5L. I don't have any life or health insurance outside of what my employer provides.

Lately, I've been feeling like a failure. I know I'm supporting my family and doing what needs to be done, but it's hard not to feel guilty when I see my savings account empty every month. On top of that, I feel stuck in my job and don't know how to improve my financial situation without compromising my family's needs.

Has anyone here been in a similar position? How did you deal with the guilt of not saving, and what would you do if you were in my shoes?