Education to entrepreneurship: Roadmap to Financial Independence for Persons with Disabilities

Having a disability is never an easy situation with the number of challenges that one faces. This is more so for persons with disabilities in India if they are not financially and emotionally independent. India, which is the fifth-largest economy globally, allocated only 0.025% of total budget expenditure for the financial year 2025-26 to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

It is true that the country is still far behind in offering world-class disability support infrastructure, cost effective quality instruments, support for health care services, sufficient insurance provisions, or more importantly adequate socio-cultural support to the PwDs despite the enormous growth of the economy of the nation since the time of independence, which is not acceptable.

It is very expensive to be differently-abled: the cost of a person with a disability over their lifetime is such that it goes into a few crores. It is not just a matter of living or surviving, it is also about thriving. It is not important that people with disabilities are struggling for the basic things in life such as effective therapy, effective medication, wheelchairs, disability-friendly cars, internally disability-friendly homes, caregivers, and so on? Even with limited economic support from the governments as well as insurance companies, with an average increase in the cost of living/healthcare in India of 12-15%, which is significantly higher than the retail inflation of 4-6%, it is imperative for people with disabilities to work doubly hard in order to meet the additional costs that their disability imposes.

Building a pyramid

The initial step that the PWDs should undertake for securing their financial future is to get educated or earn through an active stream of income either through employment or business. This would enable them to accumulate wealth, make a name, as well as gain confidence, which would automatically help to reduce the extra cost burden as well as enable them to enjoy their life the way they like.

Step number two is to purchase term and health insurance for the family members at a young age. It is possible that the insurance plan does not cover a certain disability, but it still pays for various other medical or hospitalization bills. Due to high medical inflation rates in the country along with a Per Capita income of only $2,400, it is observed that Indians are on the verge of becoming bankrupt after one hospitalization.

Step three: “curtailing leisure/unnecessary expenses, and living a simple life.” This is a means of financing many of the expenditures that come with having the disability. “We all want everything in life. But the harsh reality is that life is unfair, and if the PWDS have limited resources, then adhering to step number three is the sensible thing to do.”

And step four is to have a passive income stream by means of starting to invest in equity asset class as early as possible. Compounding requires time; therefore, it is advisable to invest in equity mutual funds—a lump sum investment or a monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) to beat the returns of inflation in the latter stages of one's life. Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) cannot earn active income throughout their lifetime, and equity is the only asset class that helps generate returns beating inflation. It is observed that for the last 30 years, on a rolling 10-year average, the Nifty 500 index has comfortably clocked an average compound return of more than 15%.

Emotional security

Financial security is one aspect that one should keep in mind. But then, there is emotional security too. Keeping in mind the psychological as well as physical issues faced by PwDs, it is important to feel for them; it is also important to motivate them. It should never be remembered that it is not possible for people with disabilities to live their lives without some or other support that they would need.

Patience is the mother of all virtues. It is important for members of the family to be patient in dealing with PwDs. A family can be loving enough to make the PwDs feel secure, supportive enough to enable the PwDs to meet challenges of life, and motivational enough to enable the PwDs to prosper.

There would be many people with disabilities who would not be physically or mentally capable of pulling themselves up financially or emotionally, and it is here that the important role of family members would be called for. It is important to approach doctors, counsellors, patient groups, but more importantly, it is important to be open-minded.

Data reveals that for the year 2025, India stands at number 132 out of 152 countries in the global OBI inclusiveness index (disability rankings at 121), firmly establishing that disability is still viewed as a taboo issue or a liability. Research points to the negative economic cost of exclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and that PwDs are very productive and driven with the right support systems in place; their performance is at par with, if not better than, that of their able colleagues in their respective domains. It is strongly suggested that in this current techno era, it is important that the taboo about Persons with Disabilities is broken by viewing them as assets in the various sectors of Indian society. 

You should trust yourself and spread it in the universe that you too are capable of living a successful life both professionally as well as personally, since you too deserve it. A lot of things are easier said than done, since dealing with and accepting one’s disability is unimaginably difficult. It is only natural that you feel like giving up on life, feel low, feel negative about things, but try not to dwell on these feelings too much, since they should drift by like the blowing winds. There is no better way of expressing it: in the current era of the world, being dependent completely on someone, either financially or emotionally, is no less than choosing to hand over the remote of your life to someone who would finally end up commanding you for some reason or the other.