Awareness of Investment Avenues: A Study of Commissioned Military Officers

Abstract

A simple process of investment aimed at growth has been the norm whether it is the economic or physical expansion of assets. With proliferation of education, multiple avenues and opportunities have been discovered wherein one can channelise the assets to achieve higher returns. However, not all investments return in positives and therefore a thorough awareness and a well considered methodology are the basic tenets of growth oriented investments. Military service having peculiar service conditions and limited exposure to financial field further makes it imperative to study awareness of investment avenues with respect to personal financial planning by military personnel. The aim of this research paper is to ascertain awareness of  Commissioned Officers of Indian Army on investment avenues for personal financial planning. For the study, 461 serving Commissioned Officers of Indian Army of varying age and length of service constituted the sample.  A structured questionnaire was developed to collect Primary data from the respondents. Detailed analysis has been carried out for the collected data using various tools and techniques in Microsoft Excel and SPSS. The study has brought out that while the awareness levels of commonly subscribed investment avenues like Savings Accounts, Fixed Deposits, Mutual Funds/SIP and Real Estate are moderate to high, there is comparatively low awareness for Derivatives, Commodity Market, Currency Market, Crypto Currency and Paintings/Art.  Overall, the study outcomes indicate a positive state for the organisation and the Nation in terms of awareness of serving Commissioned Officers of Indian Army for investment avenues on personal financial planning.