Managing Money- Simple but not Easy

Think about the last time when you bought an electronic appliance for your house, say maybe a flat screen TV or a refrigerator. How much time and effort did you put before making the final purchase? What type of research did you do? Did you research online? Did you talk to friends or family members? Or did you make multiple visits to various showrooms and ask the sales representative about all the features? Did you go alone or took your spouse/kids along?

Chances are you did most, if not all, of this before making the final purchase. Even higher chances are that you definitely sought professional help from the sales representative. Naturally then, planning your wealth should involve much more effort, if not the same, and also involve seeking some form of professional advice. But normally many of us invest just by asking someone, we feel, has some knowledge of that asset class. Some of us just want to finish the task and do it online as that seems easier to just complete and tick the box. It is therefore very important to understand the psychology of an investor resulting in a specific behaviour and I have tried to explain this in my book “Yogi on Dalal Street”  

As per the Standard Chartered’s wealth expectancy report 2019, 77% of Indian savers believe money is essential to happiness. In fact, wealth is considered so important that many Indians are anxious about their financial future: 64% of the affluent group say they worry so much about money that it affects their health.

Logically, what would be expected of a rational individual as a result of this anxiety and anxiousness is conscious effort into planning their wealth. However, the report also mentions that 62% of the emerging affluent feel so overwhelmed by financial planning that they fail to put a plan in place at all. As a recent research by Praxis Global Alliance suggests, ~83% of the emerging mass affluent are likely to manage their wealth themselves through online platforms or direct plans rather than through a Wealth Manager/Firm or their banks. Why is it that the mass affluent are much less likely to seek professional investment advice as compared to HNIs when it comes to something that is clearly very important for their happiness?

How do you manage your wealth? What is your preferred channel? Any ask from Wealth Managers or service providers on what will delight you? Any feedback/suggestions are welcome