This archive report was first published on 24 December 2019.
Published on December 24, 2019, a new report by Standard Chartered highlights the wealth aspirations of Kenyans, revealing a concerning trend.
According to the Expectancy Report 2019, which surveyed 10,000 emerging affluent, affluent, and high-net-worth individuals across 10 fast-growing economies, many Kenyans will fall short of their wealth aspirations by the age of 60.
With a wealth expectancy of Sh63.6 million, 66% of Kenya's savers will be less than halfway to achieving their wealth aspiration, while almost a third will be more than 80% away from their target.
This is in line with a global trend where nearly 6 out of 10 people on average across the markets surveyed are facing a 'wealth expectancy gap' of 50% or more.
Interestingly, Kenyan savers are more driven to start or fund businesses than individuals in any other market in the study, with over 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, Sh68.4 million for the affluent, and Sh77.2 million for high-net-worth individuals.
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.
Furthermore, 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.
Notably, nearly six out of 10 Kenyans say they want to invest more (58%), but they lack access to financial advice.
