A head start: Until the stock market came to the fore over the past decade, buying a house, buying land or buying gold was the only known way to save and invest money. Compared to the familiarity of buying land or gold, investment in any form—either in mutual funds or in stocks or bonds—is alien to most Indian investors (see the exhibit below). According to the RBI’s Household Finance Committee Report (2017), only 5 per cent of India’s household savings is invested in financial assets as against 77 per cent in real estate.
