The Real Cost of Building a Life in America: Salary, Visas, Taxes & Trade-Offs | Khushi Jain | FWS

Download 1% Club App Now! https://dl.onepc.io/2Hh8/fws-yt-kj In this episode, Sharan travels to New York City to meet Khushi Jain, a 25-year-old Indian content creator and entrepreneur who moved from Gurgaon to the US at 18 and has built her career there since. Known online as @justanotherhappygirl, she has grown an audience of close to half a million followers on Instagram, graduated from New York University, and is now building Prezrve, an on-demand marketplace that connects founders, brands and couples with local creators, videographers and photographers who can shoot content for them. What makes this conversation useful is how specific it gets. Khushi breaks down the actual numbers behind living in Manhattan: roughly $85,000 a year in US college fees, rent that starts upwards of $10,000 a month in Manhattan and drops to $5,000–$6,000 in Brooklyn, Queens or Astoria, a household budget of about $10,000 a month for a couple, and an effective tax rate in the 30–35% range for most earners. She also explains what health insurance costs when your employer does not cover it, and why a $100,000 salary at 22 still left her living paycheque to paycheque in New York. The financial planning discussion goes well beyond cost of living. Khushi talks about how she and her husband manage money as a couple, why they invest in ETFs and the S&P 500 for steady long-term growth, how they use 401(k) contributions and a backdoor Roth IRA, and how she saved consistently before quitting her marketing job to build her own company. She and Sharan also disagree openly on lifestyle inflation, which makes for one of the sharper exchanges in the episode. If you are an Indian student, professional or creator weighing a move to the US, this episode gives you a realistic picture of what that life costs, what it pays, and what you give up. It covers personal finance, investor psychology, wealth creation abroad, entrepreneurship, the creator economy and the economics of living in the most expensive city in the world. Khushi Jain Instagram: Instagram: justanotherhappygirl Prezrve: Instagram: prezrve Subscribe: The 1% Club Instagram: Instagram: onepercentclub LinkedIn: LinkedIn: the-1-clubfws Sharan Hegde Instagram: Instagram: financewithsharan LinkedIn: LinkedIn: sharanhegde95 Twitter/X: https://x.com/financewsharan — Sharan Hegde is a personal finance creator & founder of the 1% Club, simplifying money, markets, and mindset for India's next generation of wealth builders. — Timeline 00:00 - Introduction 01:29 - Welcome to New York City 02:17 - Growing Up in Chennai and Gurgaon 02:59 - Billionaires' Row and a $200 Million Apartment 04:28 - Why She Moved to the US at 18 04:45 - The Hardest Part of Living Alone Abroad 05:19 - Quitting Competitive Swimming and Switching Majors 05:57 - The Real Cost of Studying in the US 06:30 - Life in a Big Indian City vs New York 07:26 - What Hiring Help Costs in New York 08:12 - How She Earns as a Content Creator 08:34 - Building an Audience From New York 09:08 - The South Asian Community in New York 10:22 - Apartment Tour With a Manhattan Skyline View 12:13 - How Much Rent Costs in New York City 12:52 - Commuting by Subway, Ferry and Citi Bike 14:16 - What a Comfortable Year in NYC Costs 15:37 - Furnishing an Empty Apartment 16:37 - The Yearly Cost of Living in New York 17:06 - Can Lifestyle Inflation Be Controlled? 18:13 - Managing Money as a Couple 18:55 - ETFs, the S&P 500, 401(k) and Backdoor Roth IRA 19:51 - How Much Tax You Pay in New York 20:48 - Leaving a $100,000 Job at 22 21:41 - The Cost of Health Insurance in the US 22:43 - Deciding to Quit and Saving for It 23:25 - Why She Started a Company at 25 24:21 - Wedding Costs in the US vs India 24:45 - Prezrve: An On-Demand Marketplace for Creators 25:32 - How Wedding Content Added 100,000 Followers 26:26 - Final Thoughts #financewithsharan