So you’ve finally been able to save some money, good for you! But what if we told you that you could be losing over 3% of your money’s growth by stashing your money away at the bank….
We all have that one distant uncle who got over-ambitious and lost all his money in the stock market. They are now used as cautionary tales by our risk averse phobic parents about how equities are a monolithic scary financial black-hole that devours all money that is put in it.
Where did this myth start from?
This answer has a couple of interesting elements. Mainly one macroeconomic - and one socio-cultural one.
India being a younger country (75 years of nationhood is still considered young as far as countries are concerned!) initially adopted socialist policies to safe-gaurd the budding Indian economy, preferring to adopt localised goods, creating commodities within the country and reducing imported items. These policies were designed to build and RETAIN capital, we were basically trying to rebuild an economy after centuries of colonial looting.
How did this translate socio-culturally? Well, middle class Indians got very concerned about trying to limit their consumption, they preferred local and trusted brands and when it came to investing mostly chose tried and tested instruments like real-estate, gold, government bonds and FDs.
The caution against investing in the stock market is now so subliminal that it's all over pop-culture too. Characters in movies like Lage Raho MunnaBhai, Anjana Anjaani, Corporate, Scam 1992 all warn against the perils of losing it all in the Indian stock market almost implying that investing is pretty much gambling.
This not only creates an irrational and skewed deep-rooted fear in trusting your money in equities, it fails to show how time trusted alternatives are far bleeker.
FDs and Savings Accounts are minimal risk, but also offer minimal rewards. Not only that FDs and Savings Accounts simply do not keep up with the price of inflation.
What does this mean for your money? Simply put, it means that even though your money is growing, it is depreciating at the same time. It’s value decreases the more you keep it in a FD or Saving Account alone.
There are many instruments and tools available to Indians now to help them navigate the stock market and safely invest in it via funds and other mechanisms, minimising the risk undertaken, while still guaranteeing better returns than FDs and Savings Accounts.
Investing in equities isn’t rocket science, nor is it gambling or speculation. It requires research, skill and patience by selecting investment instruments that best fit your needs.
Stack helps you invest better by analysing your details and custom-making an investment plan that suits your goals, with returns that actually beat FDs and Saving accounts !
