Research / Questionnaires

The questions we ask.

Every interview follows a written instrument, and we publish them in full here, so anyone reading a finding can see exactly what was asked to produce it.

We run three versions, one per income group. The underlying hypotheses stay identical across all three; only the framing changes. Asking a daily-wage earner and a business owner the same question in the same words would produce answers that aren't comparable: one would be answering about survival, the other about strategy. Adapting the language is what makes the comparison honest.

Low-Income: 30 questions Middle-Class: 11 questions High-Net-Worth: 19 questions

Low-Income Households

Our longest instrument, and deliberately so. For households living close to the margin, financial behaviour is inseparable from work itself: whether income arrives reliably, what a week of illness costs, whether money gets sent home to a village. So this version starts with work and income stability before it ever reaches the word "investment."

It also asks the gold questions most directly, because this is where the safety-net logic is easiest to see: gold bought in grams rather than lakhs, borrowed against rather than sold, chosen over instruments people have heard of but don't trust. Respondents here include auto drivers, domestic workers, factory-floor employees, and small vendors.

Section 1: Work & Income Stability

Are you a permanent employee, or are you working on a contract basis?
If you miss work because of sickness or some emergency, what happens financially?

Section 2: Household Money Management

Do you personally decide how money is spent, or is it discussed with family?
Do you send money to family in your hometown or village?
Is that amount fixed every month or does it change?
At home, do people openly discuss money and income?

Section 3: Spending Habits & Culture

What do you usually spend most of your monthly income on? (Food, rent, children's education, gold, festivals, loans, clothes, etc.)
During festivals or family functions, what do you usually spend more on?
What is one thing you never hesitate to spend money on for your family?

Section 4: Saving, Loans & Investment Habits

Do you usually save money every month?
What do you usually save or invest in? (Gold, chit funds, land, bank savings, LIC, business, etc.)
Do you own any land in your hometown or village?
Have you heard about mutual funds, stocks, or SIP investments?
If you have heard about them, do you invest in them? Why or why not?
Many families buy gold regularly. Why do you think gold is preferred over stocks or mutual funds?
Do you usually take loans when needed?
If you take loans, do you usually borrow from banks, finance companies, friends, or family?
If you borrow from family or friends, why do you prefer that?
If you borrow from banks or finance companies, why do you prefer that?
Are you willing to lend money to others if they ask?
When you have some extra money, what do you usually do with it? (Buy gold, save it, lend it, spend it, invest it, etc.)
If you spend that extra money instead of buying gold, what do you usually spend it on and why?
If someone gave you ₹1 lakh today as a gift, what would you do with it?

Section 5: Government Support & Future Thinking

Do you use any government schemes or benefits?
Do those schemes actually help reduce your expenses?
Do you teach your children about saving money or spending carefully?

Additional probes

Asked when time and rapport allow, often the most revealing answers in the set.

When money is tight, what expense do you cut first?
Do you prefer buying things in cash or on EMI/loan?
Do you trust banks more, or do you trust gold more?
Have family traditions influenced how you save or spend money?

Middle-Class Households

The tightest of the three. Middle-class respondents generally have surplus income, bank access, and some exposure to formal instruments, which means the interesting question is no longer whether they can save, but what they choose and why. So this version drops the work-stability groundwork and goes straight to allocation.

It's also where the three hypotheses overlap most visibly: the same household that keeps gold as a hedge is usually the one negotiating who decides when to pledge it, and the one budgeting for a function whose scale relatives will notice. The ₹1,00,000 question here is a direct comparison point against the ₹1 lakh question in the low-income set.

Basic financial behaviour

After paying your work and household expenses, what do you usually do with any money that remains?

Gold & contingency planning

When your family has extra money, where do you usually prefer to keep or invest it? Why?
Does your household own or regularly buy gold? What is the main reason for keeping it?
Has your family ever sold or pledged gold to manage an emergency or major expense?
Suppose you had ₹1,00,000 that you would not need immediately. Where would you feel safest keeping it: gold, a bank deposit, cash or somewhere else? Why?

Women & household financial decisions

In your household, who normally manages everyday expenses such as groceries, bills and school fees?
When the family makes a major financial decision (buying a vehicle, taking a loan, a large purchase), who is usually involved and who has the final say?
When gold is bought, sold or pledged in your household, who usually makes or influences that decision?
In your household, how much influence do women have over major money decisions? (Usually decide / Joint / Opinion only / Rarely involved)

Festivals, events & social identity

When a festival, wedding or family function is coming up, does your household decide a budget in advance, or spend according to what the occasion requires?
Suppose your family could organise a simpler wedding or function and save the remaining money. Would everyone be comfortable with that, or would there be concern about what relatives and neighbours might think? Why?

High-Net-Worth Individuals

The most open-ended of the three. Here, constraint mostly isn't the story; choice is. Respondents have access to every instrument available, professional advice if they want it, and no real liquidity pressure, so asking "do you save?" would tell us nothing. Instead this version asks about philosophy, trust, and what they deliberately avoid.

It's the sharpest test of our gold hypothesis. If gold were purely a poverty-driven workaround for limited access, it should disappear at this income level. Asking which asset class someone trusts most, when they could pick anything, is how we find out whether the cultural logic survives affluence, or is replaced by it.

Section 1: Financial Identity & Money Philosophy

How would you describe your current stage of financial life? (e.g. wealth-building, established professional, business owner, inherited wealth, nearing retirement, legacy planning, enjoying the fruits of making money in previous years)
Do you see yourself as financially conservative, balanced, or aggressive? Why?
When you think about money today, what matters most to you: security, growth, lifestyle, status, freedom, family responsibility, or legacy?
Has your attitude toward money changed significantly over the last 10 years? What caused that change?

Section 2: Spending Behaviour & Lifestyle Choices

What are the areas where you are most comfortable spending generously? (travel, education, health, home, luxury goods, experiences, staff, family events, charity, etc.)
What are the areas where you remain surprisingly conservative or price-conscious despite having a high income?
Do you feel your lifestyle has expanded in proportion to your income, or have you consciously resisted lifestyle inflation?
In your family or social circle, are there expectations around spending on weddings, festivals, gifts, charity, temple giving, or social events?

Section 3: Saving, Investment & Risk Mindset

What is your preferred instrument of saving? (real estate, equity, mutual funds, gold, fixed income, business, international assets, alternatives, cash, etc.)
Which asset class do you trust the most, and why?
Which asset class do you avoid or distrust, and why?
Do you prefer direct investing, professional wealth managers, family advice, or your own research?

Section 4: Family, Gender & Decision-Making

How much influence does family have on major financial decisions? (scale 1–10; e.g. buying property, selling land, investing in markets, giving loans, funding relatives, or planning inheritance)
In your household, when an important money decision has to be made, whose opinion usually carries the most weight? (your own, spouse's, mother's, father's, grandmother's, another elder's, or decided together)
Are there particular financial areas where the women in the family usually take the lead? (jewellery, gifting, children's education, household budgeting, property decisions, family functions, charity, or long-term saving)
In your family, is wealth discussed openly with children and younger members, or is it kept private?
What financial values did you inherit from your parents, and which ones have you changed or rejected?

Section 5: Culture, Legacy & Future Thinking

Are there any family customs or annual occasions that you plan financially for almost automatically? (weddings, festivals, temple giving, seer/gifts, family functions, support for parents, support for relatives, or charity)
When your family thinks about preserving wealth, what feels most reassuring or culturally natural (gold, property, business, market investments, or a mix), and why?

Want to answer these yourself?

We're always looking for households willing to sit down for a conversation.

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