New Delhi, Nov. 4 -- Your Diwali bonus has landed. The shopping cart is ready, the holiday deals are tempting and perhaps you have been waiting for this money to upgrade your phone or make a lump-sum investment in a falling market.

But here's a less exciting question worth asking-if your salary stopped coming tomorrow, how long would this bonus keep your household running? That may be the most useful way to think about a windfall in an uncertain economy, experts say.

"This year, the bonus is not income. Think of it as severance paid early," said Ajay Pruthi, founder of PLNR and a Sebi-registered investment advisor (RIA). With the uncertainty over layoffs, inflation eating into household savings and flat markets adding to the squeeze, a ...