Conversations about money – spending, investments and wealth – can get touchy when they involve family members, especially spouses, according to a research report by St. James’s Place.
A significant portion of conversations about money with family about money can get touchy. According to a research report by St. James’s Place Asia, more than one-third of related social media posts that mention parents (34 percent), children (37 percent) and spouses (42 percent) contain negative sentiments.
There are also cultural nuances between different groups. For traditional Asian families, for example, interviewees expressed caution on money discussions about spending and higher risk investments, especially among younger individuals. And for expats, there was a reluctance to disclose information about their wealth and salaries to friends and family back home due to differences in financial status.
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On information about money-related decisions, the report highlighted that interviews revealed a feeling of being overwhelmed by the amount of information presented. Social media analysis found that lotteries and get-rich schemes received nearly ten times more engagement compared to traditional media articles on financial management. Retirement was named as the main reason to talk about money.
The research, titled «How We Talk About Money» was based on analysis of social media conversations alongside interviews of retail investors and St. James’s Place Asia partners in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Founded in 1991, St. James’s Place is a financial advisory group with offices across the UK as well as Hong Kong, Singapore and UAE. It has nearly 1 million clients with funds of over 181.9 billion British pounds ($224.6 billion).
