[시사주간=황채원 기자] Rich Koreans with more than 1 billion won in financial assets chose real estate as their top additional investment asset this year. Rich people were found to read more books, have higher life satisfaction, and be closer to their families than the general public.
Hana Bank’s Hana Financial Management Research Institute announced on the 25th that it has published the ‘2024 Korean Wealth Report’, which analyzes the financial behavior of Korea’s rich. This year marks the 17th year since the report was published.
According to the report, the proportion of rich people who have a positive outlook on the real and real estate economy this year has increased, showing expectations for economic recovery. However, the number of wealthy people who failed to turn around optimistically and decided to take a wait-and-see approach and maintain their asset portfolio as is rather than actively adjusting it increased from 5 out of 10 in the last survey to 7 this time.
The number one asset with the highest intention for additional investment this year was real estate. There was a slight increase in the number of responses saying they would increase the proportion of real estate, showing cautious expectations for a recovery in the real estate market. Among financial assets, preference for deposits remained high compared to last year, followed by willingness to invest in stocks and bonds.
The ownership rate of real assets such as works of art and precious metals also increased compared to the previous survey. In particular, more than half of the wealthy who invest in gold expressed intention to make additional transactions.
As the person responsible for managing household finances, men tended to manage them relatively aggressively and self-directedly due to their high awareness of managing ‘my money’. The proportion of people owning direct investment products such as stocks and bonds was also up to 1.4 times higher among men.
Women tried to approach it from a family-oriented perspective, believing that they managed ‘family money’. Stable products that prepare for risks and prepare for the future, such as insurance and pensions, had a 5-11% higher retention rate when women were in charge of finances. When investing, the rate of direct investment was lower and the rate of utilizing ETFs (exchange-traded funds) was higher than that of men. When securing information about financial investments, women sought advice from experts and also took into account the opinions of their families.
When transferring assets through gift or inheritance, men gave priority to their spouses other than their children. Women tended to consider more broadly, including their original family, such as nieces, nephews, brothers, and sisters, in addition to their children.
The average sleep time of rich people was 7.3 hours, which was 30 minutes shorter than that of the general public, meaning they were having a relatively long day. Rich people used their morning time more actively. In the morning, I had a light breakfast such as squeezed juice or Greek yogurt. They also practiced various activities at a higher rate than the general public, such as reading paper newspapers, exercising and walking in the morning, and scheduling their day.
Among the rich, the proportion of people who read newspapers or news increased as their assets increased. They read the economics section thoroughly, but were less interested in entertainment, sports, and society than the general public.
For the rich, reading was both daily life and relaxation. Rich people read about 10 books a year. It was found that super-rich people with financial assets of more than 10 billion won read about 20 books, twice as many. Rich people most preferred reading in the fields of humanities and social sciences to satisfy their intellectual needs. The general public reads books at the rate of 60% of the rich, showing a difference in preference for novels and self-help books.
When we asked both the rich and the general public about the meaning of money, the most common response was ‘comfort.’ More than 90% of rich people perceived money positively, saying that money is a means to reduce inconveniences in life and provide comfort for generations. The general public was more likely to view money as a goal in life and view it negatively as pain or restraint.
When the general public and the rich were asked about their ‘overall life satisfaction’, 70% of the rich responded that they were satisfied, which is twice as many as the general public (35%).
For total assets of less than 1 billion won, the satisfaction rate was 42%, less than half. When total assets reached around 3 billion won, two-thirds (66%) of respondents responded that they were satisfied, a 1.6-fold increase. As it approached 5 billion won, the increase in satisfaction (71%) slowed, but beyond that, the number of satisfied people (67%) actually decreased. It is true that economic power is important for life satisfaction, but it has been confirmed that happiness does not increase indefinitely with the amount of money.
When asked to choose an adjective to describe their personality, people who were satisfied with their lives were more likely to describe themselves as ‘goal-oriented’ (30%) and ‘reliable’ (25%). This tendency was answered about 10 percentage points higher in cases of satisfaction with life than in cases of dissatisfaction.
The rate of people who did not have high life satisfaction described themselves as ‘emotional’ or ‘kind’ was more than 15 percentage points higher than that of those who were satisfied. The tendency to consider oneself to be ‘emotional’ and ‘kind’ was also a characteristic that appeared about two times more frequently in the general public than in the rich.
Through this, it is explained that it has been confirmed that a life attitude of trusting oneself and pursuing goals rather than being conscious of the opinions or evaluations of others can have a positive effect on forming wealth and increasing life satisfaction.
Among the many factors that determine a happy life, the proportion of rich people being satisfied with ‘family relationships’ was high. While 7 out of 10 wealthy people were satisfied with their family relationships, only about 5 of the general public responded positively, showing a difference in the perception of relationships between family members.
When asked about the number of times they ate with their family during the week, 41% of rich people said they ate almost every day, and 27% said they ate 3-4 times a week, with 7 out of 10 rich people eating with their families more than 3 times a week. The proportion of the general public who said they rarely eat with their families was close to 20%, which was about twice as high as that of the rich (9%).
Seon-kyung Hwang, a researcher at Hana Financial Management Research Institute, said, “It is important to look at the wealth management practices and changes of the rich in the Korea Wealth Report, but it is also very meaningful to closely examine their attitude toward life.” He added, “Being conscious of the evaluation of others. “We have confirmed that the lifestyle of rich people who face situations more rationally, trust themselves, and pursue goals can help them build wealth and further increase their overall satisfaction with life,” he said. SW
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