indianman, if you have the option, consider becoming an analyst. analysts are like movie stars, constantly being highjacked by other companies and constantly hiking their salary demands skyward. in theory, all an analyst does is put a BUY, SELL or HOLD recommendation on a stock (well, there's more to it than that obviously, but that is the essential part).

at the bank where i worked, the yearly bonus was equal to the sum of all the salary payments you received during the year or more. in fact, you may find this hard to believe, but one analyst was given a bonus of over US$1MILLION.... and he was furious! he thought he was entitled to much more... and he quit ! prima donnas... but rich ones

if you can get into this field, you will be set for life. though, of course, it is a very competitive field.

BTW, in asia, many of the top analysts are desi; especially those covering tech stocks, internet stocks and many of the macro economists are india-educated desi. the CFA is really the industry standard for this occupation (if that's the one you have in mind), no matter what your educational background is.

bottom line: i think you're going in the right direction.