Coronavirus drives young adults to make more money
New appetite among millennials to seek ways to grow their money digitally on stock markets
After the Covid- 19 pandemic tightening income and spending, money making finance apps are seeing a rise in user activity as amateur investors enter the market, and learn of ways to make their money grow.
Although the market crash on March 18 hurt many existing investors, it also convinced plenty to enter the market and begin investing for the first time, with a surge in Google searches as well, data showed.
Although the economic downturn is attracting investors from all age groups, market experts have noted a large portion of new investors appear to be from younger demographics.
Surveys indicate that a hype on topics of finance and investment were very high among those 25 years and below, with over half of those surveyed under all age groups also showing fairly more interest.
With many restricted to home during the pandemic, millions have turned to stock investing in recent months, lured by the advent of free trades. Online brokerages reported an uptick in customer accounts.
Common searches
Popular personal finance applications used for budgeting include Mint, Money Smart, Personal Capital, Spendee, Wally, GoodBudget, WalletHub, You Need a Budget, Toshl Finance and Acorns.
Additionally, there are also Level Money, One Touch Expenser, Expense Manager, Money Lover, Bill Assistant, Easy Money, Account Tracker, Expensify and Loan Calculator Pro that sawhigher usage.
Common searches include finding ‘ the best stock to invest in’, and stocks with the highest growth potential during the pandemic, and during early parts of the pandemic related apps saw a huge spike.
Google search queries reveal a peak in demand for budgeting and investment apps in early March, with studies indicating that comparatively more people own shares now, versus pre- pandemic levels.
In the UAE, widely used online brokerages include IQ Option, eToro, AVAtrade, XM, Oanda and Pepperstone. Saxo Bank’s trading platform is popularly known as good stock broker choice.
While Forex. com is commonly used foreign exchange broker, particularly advanced traders, FXCM is observed to be ideal for newbie traders. TD Ameritrade offers comparatively lower trading fees as well.
The subject of investment has already been a growing focus, especially among young adults, but analysts say there is marked evidence of the corona crisis further intensifying the trend.
In the UAE, a recent Standard Chartered study found that 76 per cent of 25 to 34year olds would set up a second income stream, with means to quick money at fingertips with digital apps and investments.
Matter experts say this is due to opportunities that numerous investors sensed in the sharp falls on the stock market, and moreover the Standard Chartered study found Covid- 19 had hurt personal finances.
Income streams
The survey showed onethird of the global population now earn less, and more than half expect Covid- 19 to further hurt income and/ or jobs, a finding that saw the trend in half of the UAE population as well.
The study was done with 12,000 adults across twelve markets — Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, UAE, Kenya, Pakistan, the UK and the US.
This, the research cited, can be explained by a willingness — particularly among young people and those in fast- growth markets — to take steps to adapt income streams and digital means, in order to earn more.
Google search queries reveal a peak in demand for budgeting and investment apps, with studies indicating that more people own shares now, versus pre- pandemic levels.