Business1 min read

Bengaluru woman clears Rs 43 lakh loan, teaches son money lesson

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Arpitha Rao brought her young son to the bank to witness the final settlement of her education debt to impart early financial lessons. While peers often cleared similar balances within two to four years, her repayment stretched across eight years due to self-funding her life since early adulthood and facing entrepreneurial trials. The process grew especially demanding when the birth of her child led to a year without earnings and denied maternity benefits. Now debt-free, she is channeling her experience into running advisory initiatives for professionals in the impact sector.

Key points

  • Career perseverance through impact consulting and entrepreneurial failures allowed Rao to…: Career perseverance through impact consulting and entrepreneurial failures allowed Rao to overcome substantial debt without an external safety net.
  • Taking her three-and-a-half-year-old child to the bank served as a practical demonstratio…: Taking her three-and-a-half-year-old child to the bank served as a practical demonstration of financial accountability and hard work.
  • Eliminating the long-standing financial liability enabled Rao to launch her own coaching…: Eliminating the long-standing financial liability enabled Rao to launch her own coaching practice and an impact training program.

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For Bengaluru-based Arpitha Rao, a visit to the bank recently was not just about completing a financial transaction. It marked the end of an eight-year journey of managing an education loan, building a career, navigating motherhood and taking financial responsibility for herself and her family. After repaying her Rs 43 lakh education loan, Rao decided to take her three-and-a-half-year-old son along to the bank to close the account. She wanted him to witness the milestone, hoping that the experience would teach him the importance of earning, financial independence and building a life on his own.

Sharing the experience in a detailed LinkedIn post, Rao explained that her journey had been very different from that of some of her former classmates at the Indian School of Business (ISB), many of whom managed to repay their education loans within two to four years. For her, the same goal took eight years of consistent effort.

Financial independence came early in her life

Rao revealed that her father stopped supporting her financially when she was 18. During her college years, her sister helped her…

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