In today’s fast-paced digital world of social media, influencers often dictate, by virtue of their large following and stardom, the behavioural patterns of their followers, who also happen to be the consumers of their content.

While some of those advice, such as those relating to fashion or trends may prove to be just an embarrassment or a faux pas, those relating to finance could prove to be disastrous, especially when they are not accurate and passed of more as ‘hearsay advice’.

So, when well-known motivational speaker and educator, Sarthak Ahuja, director, NIAMH Ventures, and a chartered accountant by qualification, dispelled some popular myths on investment, it was a welcome experience.

The Myth Of 4% And The Reality Of 50X

Ahuja started the discourse by asking the audience, “how much would you need for your retirement?”

Upon many from the audience replying about the four per cent rule, he said, while that may have been true in the early 90s, it doesn’t hold true now.

He gave figures and facts on inflation, pre-tax return on Nifty and bonds, tax on capital gains, current annual expenses, an emergency corpus, and the rate on return on bonds and equity, assuming a 60/40 split of portfolio to arrive the required corpus needed for retirement if one’s annual expenses come to Rs 18 lakh.

The figure arrived at was a mind-boggling Rs 8.25 crore, 50 times the annual expense.40After40 Retirement Expo: How To Ensure Regular Income After Retirement? Here’s Navneet Batra’s Advice

His Own Investment Mantra

He also spoke of his own investment mantra, which he said goes against what most financial advisors would suggest.

He said he invests for the long term in Nifty 50. “Even if you look at the price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples, that’s closer to 22-23 times. But if you individually pick stocks, a lot of stocks today are at

50X or 60X. But even if the market crashes, the kind of impact it would have on Nifty would be negligible. I invest about 50 per cent in equities, 30-40 per cent in real estate and the balance in short-term liquid funds and gold,” he added.

Advice For Gen Z

He said since a lot of Gen Z prefer work-life balance, they should ideally start saving early.

“A lot of them love a work-life balance. So, for that generation, they might prefer having a side gig, and not be subservient to an organisation or an employer just to be able to do things that they like. So, if I say from a Gen Z perspective, the sooner they start saving, the better it may be, because at times, life can be harsh.