India, Aug. 12 -- A viral social media post highlighting the financial realities of studying abroad has sparked an intense online debate. It claimed that a family drained fifteen years' worth of fixed deposits, worth fifty lakh rupees, to fund a master's degree in Canada. Instead of financial freedom, the graduate now struggles with high taxes and expensive living costs, saving far less than he would have saved in India.

"Going abroad looks like a dream until you actually do the math. Between crazy rent, taxes, and the cost of living, earning in dollars or CAD often leaves you saving less than a standard job back home," entrepreneur Harsh Gupta wrote on Instagram.

He continued, "A friend's family broke 15 years of FDs to fund an MS in C...