That fat paycheck in your Tier-I city job? It’s bait. In a Reddit post, one user claims India’s urban corporate life is a giant con—where the tax department bleeds your income, builders sell you shoeboxes on 20-year loans, and e-commerce giants outprice the kirana stores they killed. 

You think you’re climbing—everyone else is cashing out.

“Corporate job + Tier-I city life in India is a giant casino setup where the house always wins,” the post declares. At first glance, it’s a familiar grind: high salaries, long hours, and urban comforts. But scratch the surface, and the post argues, it’s a well-oiled machine designed to keep professionals trapped in a cycle of overwork and overconsumption.

First in line to benefit is the government, collecting over 30% of your salary in taxes—“without any contribution to your well-being.” Then come the real estate developers, offering cramped apartments at sky-high prices, with EMIs stretching across two decades.

Schools and hospitals, the post claims, charge fees benchmarked not to quality but to the average income in their postcode. Meanwhile, e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms start off as saviors of convenience—until local competitors vanish, and prices quietly rise above market rates.

Trapped in this loop, workers begin to feel they’re not earning enough—despite the rising paychecks. So they chase the next promotion, work longer hours, and neglect health and relationships in the process. The end result? Higher stress, more medical bills, and deteriorating family life.

And yet, companies see rising productivity. Governments collect more taxes. Private healthcare thrives. “So even after an increase in income, it remains a zero-sum game for you,” the post concludes.

But the Redditor doesn’t stop at critique—they offer an out. The only way to escape, they argue, is through “delayed gratification.” That means rejecting lifestyle inflation, disregarding social pressure, and building a financial safety net through liquid investments.

Once you hit financial independence, the exit plan is clear: location arbitrage. Earn big in a Tier-I city, then relocate to a Tier-II or Tier-III town, where your money and returns stretch further—and the game changes in your favor.