By Mayank Bhatnagar
One of the greatest achievements of the 21st century has been India’s shift towards a digital economy. Distances have shrunk, processes have become efficient, and almost anything we need is just a click away. Whether it is shopping, entertainment or investing, convenience has been brought to our doorstep.
At the heart of this transformation is a generation that has understood this tech revolution better than any other – Gen Z. Born roughly between 1997 and 2012, this generation has adopted technology into their lives to stay connected, have access to information and create greater convenience.
The Real Drivers of Digital Investing in India
While popular belief points to robo-advisory or DIY platforms as the face of this revolution, the real story lies beneath the surface. India’s leap into digital investing has been enabled by infrastructure based on Aadhaar, UPI, real-time banking integration, digital KYC, and efficient transaction engines. This infrastructure has allowed businesses to scale quickly, build transaction platforms and reach customers anywhere.
However, as digital first platforms excel at making transactions seamless, the real purpose of investing, which is achieving long-term financial freedom, often gets lost in the race to deliver convenience and scale. Technology has made access easier, but has it also made outcomes better? That is the question worth asking.
Gen Z and the Long Road to Financial Freedom
Financial freedom isn’t about getting rich overnight. It is about making disciplined choices today so you can secure your financial future. It means having the resources to live life on your terms with peace of mind.
Generation Z may encounter several challenges in attaining financial freedom, including limited time, restricted access to investing experts, and ongoing market noise fuelled by excessive consumption of social media.
Another factor that can hinder long-term wealth creation for Gen Z is the temptation to pursue instant gratification—a term used for satisfying short-term needs at the expense of long-term goals and objectives. Since financial goals are often more than 20 years away, they lack immediate appeal, and there is greater satisfaction in purchasing expensive items like an iPhone, a big car, or the latest LED TV.
The advantage of having time to achieve goals can turn into a disadvantage. Therefore, this generation must develop the habit of ‘saving first and spending later’ early in their investing journey.
Since investors of this generation are in the accumulation phase of their journey, they have decades ahead to grow their wealth. They are best positioned to earn compounded returns over the long term.
However, as it is said, ‘investing is easy, but wealth creation is not,’ so for this generation to achieve financial freedom, it is essential that they set clear financial goals, consult experts, and use an intuitive investment platform that provides information about investments, offers insights, and helps visualise multiple future scenarios of their investment journey.
Digital-Only or Bionic Investing – What works for Gen Z
Digital-only platforms are impersonal transaction engines that ignore your aspirations, financial goals, or personal risk-taking ability. Their approach focuses on fund or product recommendations rather than genuinely understanding you. The emphasis stays on transactions and short-term fund performance, with personalisation limited to templated or algorithm-driven suggestions.
Bionic investing, on the other hand, combines the expertise of investment professionals with extensive technology used to add value for investors throughout their investment journey. This approach eliminates generic or templated investment plans and offers a highly personalised investing process.
While skilled investment experts understand your goals, help manage your investing behaviour, and develop a customised investment plan, technology provides access to intelligent tools for tracking progress, personalising plans, and optimising asset allocation.
Bionic Investing models can therefore help Gen Z to enjoy the convenience and speed of digital while benefitting from the expertise, guidance and perspective that only a human advisor can offer. It channels their digital fluency into disciplined, purpose-driven action, with behavioural guidance and real-time tracking to help them stay invested through phases of market volatility.
Ultimately, Gen Z has the greatest opportunity to build long-term wealth. The key is to ignore the noise, leverage time as their biggest advantage, and team up with a trusted investing platform that guides them towards sound investing habits, aligned with their goals, risk appetite and investment timeframe. Just as the right life partner can shape a fulfilling life, the right financial partner can help craft a roadmap to financial freedom.
(The author is the Co-founder and COO of FinEdge)
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.]
