Kenyans walking on a Nairobi street. /CFM-FILE.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 24 – Many Kenyans will fall short of their wealth aspirations by half or even more.
This according to Standard Chartered’s new Expectancy Report 2019 which examines the saving and investment habits of 10,000 emerging affluent, affluent and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) across 10 fast-growing economies.
With a wealth expectancy of Sh63.6 million, many Kenyans will fall short of their aspirations by 60 years of age, 66 percent of Kenya’s savers will be less than halfway to achieving their wealth aspiration, while almost a third will be more than 80 percent away from their target.
This compares to a global trend where nearly 6 out of 10 people on average across the markets surveyed are facing a ‘wealth expectancy gap’ of 50 percent or more.
Kenyan savers are more driven to start or fund businesses than individuals in any other market in the study, with more than a quarter citing this as one of their top three financial goals.
The report also reveals that the average wealth expectancy of Kenyans with enough disposable income to save and invest is Sh63.6 million for the emerging affluent, Sh68.4million for the affluent and Sh77.2 million for high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
On average, this would give people in Kenya Sh222,000 to live on per month during retirement, much 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 6 years, the affluent 8 years of retirement, while HNWIs would be able to fund 5 years.
Kenyan savers also combine simple savings products with stocks and shares to achieve their goals.
Nearly six out of 10 Kenyans say they want to invest more (58 percent), but they lack access to financial advice.
Funding their children’s education, buying land, establishing or funding their own business and investing in property are the most common aims for savers in Kenya.
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