Readings: Young investors, Gujju bahus & Sensex, Paper vs. Real assets
- Economic Times: India’s booming economy pulls in young investors
. . . only 3.5 million Indians, out of a total working population of 321 million , are in the 18-59 age group who invest in stocks. That’s just over 2% of the total working population. While in developed countries such as the US, half the households invest in mutual funds.
Huge potential!
Housewives in Gujarat have now turned avid investors. Keeping a tab on the skyrocketing stock markets, the household women here were among the ones who were busy selling to make profits today.
The large number of women entering the stock markets has made some stock broking companies open specialized branches just for their female clients.
- Daily News & Analysis: Paper wealth against real estate
And it is not so much about equity versus real estate - such people would be as wary of investing in a real estate trust as they would be in equity - as much as it is about ‘paper’ wealth versus tangible assets.
Many of us have grown up at a time when equity markets were either non-existent, or were plagued by scams in the initial period of their development (circa 1992). On the other hand, ownership of a house has been considered a necessity almost since time immemorial, and there is nothing more comforting than having a roof over your head. Of course, this thinking got extended to investment assets as well - to houses that were not bought for self-use, but for appreciation.
I guess this is one reason why people are willing to pay atrocious prices to buy apartments in Bangalore, instead of renting & putting the extra money in better investments.
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