A high salary is often seen as the main indicator of financial success, but experts remind that the ability to manage money plays an equally important role as the size of income. Economist Ruslan Sultanov, in his Telegram channel "Economic Literacy," debunked the common myth that a large income automatically ensures a comfortable life, reports infohub.kz.
According to the expert, one can earn a lot but still live paycheck to paycheck, with no savings and constant anxiety about the future. Formally, such a person is successful, but from a financial well-being perspective, they remain at the bottom. Meanwhile, a person with a more modest income but with a financial cushion and a clear plan can feel much more confident.
Sultanov emphasizes that financial well-being is determined not so much by income level but by the habit of managing money wisely regardless of earnings. He suggests distinguishing two concepts: income is a flow of money that may consist of salary and other receipts, while financial well-being is a state based on a margin of safety and predictability.
Official data on average wages in Kazakhstan show that in the first quarter of this year, the average salary was 461.5 thousand tenge. Including small enterprises, where more than 1.1 million workers are employed, the figure was lower at 445.1 thousand tenge. In some sectors, wage growth outpaced inflation, while in others the situation was less favorable.
The expert gives an example: one person may spend almost everything they earn, increasing expenses as income rises, while another regularly saves a portion of their earnings and knows they can comfortably live for several months even without a job. That is why a high salary reduces some daily worries, but by itself does not make a person financially well-off.
The international "financial well-being ladder" model includes five steps, from constant money stress to full financial confidence. And the size of the salary is not the only factor determining one's position on this ladder. The most persistent myths are born when we see the result but do not notice the mechanism, concluded Sultanov.