New Delhi, December 18: Around 77 per cent of Indian wealth creators believe money is essential to happiness, more than in any other market, revealed Standard Chartered’s new Wealth Expectancy Report 2019, which focussed on emerging affluent, affluent and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
It said Indian wealth creators plan ahead-- three in five (60 per cent) have a financial strategy that includes investment products. Despite this, half (49 per cent) of India’s wealth creators still feel very far away from their top financial goal.
In fact, wealth is considered so important that many Indian wealth creators are anxious about their financial future: 64 per cent of the affluent group say they worry so much about money that it affects their health, and 62 per cent of the emerging affluent feel so overwhelmed by financial planning they fail to put a plan in place at all.
The emerging affluent is also the least likely group in India to seek professional investment advice. Indian wealth creators are also concerned about how the next generation will manage and preserve the wealth they pass on. 62 per cent of wealth creators are worried about this, despite 80 per cent having comprehensive wealth transfer strategies in place, it stated.
Indian wealth creators are future-focussed and use digital financial products to boost their financial security.
The average wealth expectancy of those in India with enough disposable income to save and invest is Rs 3.6 crore ($518,000), or Rs 1.3 crore ($195,000) for the emerging affluent, Rs 2.6 crore ($374,000) for the affluent and Rs 6.9 crore ($986,000) for HNWIs.
The Standard Chartered Wealth Expectancy Report 2019 combines opinion research and economic modelling to assess the wealth expectancy of three wealth creator groups in 10 markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East: China, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the UAE.
On average, this would give Indians Rs 93,000 ($1,332) to live on per month during retirement, which is less than both their current income and their wealth aspiration. If they were to spend at the average monthly rate to which they aspire, their wealth expectancy would last the emerging affluent six years of retirement, and the affluent nine years, while HNWIs would be able to fund five years.
The three wealth creator groups in the study are the emerging affluent, the affluent and high net worth individuals (HNWIs). The emerging affluent and the affluent groups are defined according to market-specific income bands, while the HNWIs are those with assets under management exceeding USD1 million (irrespective of income).
It said India remains one of the most buoyant economies in the world, with a growing class of wealthy citizens to match. Yet Indian wealth creators have a relatively small wealth expectancy, including a low level of statutory pensions, resulting in a large wealth expectancy gap: only 32 per cent will achieve more than half of their aspirations, and 68 per cent will be less than halfway there.