India, Oct. 3 -- A man's story about his former manager and her old Santro has prompted people to rethink how they judge someone's financial situation. What once seemed like an ordinary old car turned out to be part of a much bigger story about saving, investing and planning for the future.

Abhishek Singh, who was 22 when he worked with the manager at his first company, recently recalled how he and his colleagues used to joke about her ageing car. Years later, learning that she had retired at 46 made him look at those memories very differently.

"She always used to come to the office in a grey Santro, probably 12-plus years old, and it had a weird suspension issue. The car made a weird whizzing sound when starting off," he wrote.

Singh ...