The biggest financial leak in most salary accounts isn’t a hidden fee. It’s the decision to do nothing. Most Indian salary and savings accounts earn around 2.5–3.0% interest. After tax, a 3% return becomes roughly 2.1% for someone in the 30% tax bracket. If inflation averages 6%, purchasing power is shrinking by nearly 3.9% a year in real terms. That’s why safe cash isn’t always preserving wealth. Over 12 years, ₹10 lakh earning 2.7% interest grows to about ₹13.77 lakh nominally. But after accounting for 6% inflation, its purchasing power falls to roughly ₹6.84 lakh in today’s money. The principal remains intact. Its buying power doesn’t. The simplest fix usually isn’t a new investment product. It’s enabling your bank’s Auto-Sweep facility, which automatically moves excess balances into linked fixed deposits while keeping funds available for UPI payments, ATM withdrawals and other transactions when needed. The real mistake is treating an emergency fund and idle surplus as the same thing. #PersonalFinance #MoneyManagement #FinancialLiteracy