6 out of 10 Say "Investing in Me Increases Success Probability"
79.9% Say "Self-Development Requires Money"
Recently, the overlapping rise in prices and economic uncertainty have heightened anxiety in the investment market. This seems to be leading to increased interest in self-development as a way to cope with future uncertainties.
According to a survey conducted on the 8th by Embrain Trend Monitor, a market research specialist company, titled '2023 Financial Technology and Life (Success) Perception Survey,' there is a clear perception in Korean society, where economic uncertainty is growing, that securing a stable life in the future requires enhancing one’s capabilities through self-development.
The survey also found that the vast majority of respondents (98.8%) have recently felt the impact of rising prices. Most believe there is no sector where prices are not increasing (95.0%), feel a heavy burden from living expenses (82.3%), and worry about insufficient living costs in the future (77.9%).
On the other hand, the proportion of people who consider their qualifications better than their peers was low (19.1%). Responses indicating confidence in receiving the desired salary level at work were also low (17.1%), while there was strong agreement (78.0%) that now is a time to save money as much as possible.
As anxiety about the economic situation spreads, concerns about a downturn in the investment market are also increasing. Among all respondents, 83.1% felt that the current economic instability is causing uncertainty in the investment market, and 80.1% said it is difficult to be confident that any investment method will 'definitely succeed' these days.
Accordingly, more people have been investing in financial products with higher stability compared to last year, such as fixed deposits and installment savings. Fixed deposits and installment savings increased from 63.3% and 27.9% in 2022 to 67.9% and 32.9% in 2023, respectively.
In particular, the perception that investing in 'oneself' is the most likely successful financial strategy (62.4%) was highly rated, and many agreed on the need to develop their own capabilities for the future.
Looking at the return rates of self-development investments by age group: ▲20s (9.2%) ▲30s (7.2%) ▲40s (5.2%) ▲50s (3.2%), and the perceived success possibility was: ▲20s (14.4%) ▲30s (7.2%) ▲40s (6.8%) ▲50s (8.4%).
Anxiety about the Future Leads to Increased Interest in Self-Development
The growing interest in self-development appears to be related to the increasing number of people feeling anxious about their future.
A significant majority of respondents strongly agreed that finding a stable job in Korean society is becoming increasingly difficult (84.5%), and 82.1% said that the rising desire for self-development is because the future feels uncertain.
In fact, 7 out of 10 respondents (72.5%) expressed interest in self-development, which can be interpreted as showing high interest in investing in themselves and increasing their value amid the difficulty of securing stable employment.
When looking at the willingness to invest 'time' and 'money' in self-development by age group, the figures were ▲20s (90.4%) ▲30s (90.0%) ▲40s (91.2%) ▲50s (88.4%), indicating that the need for self-development due to future anxiety is common across all age groups.
The types of self-development people want to experience include ▲health management such as exercise (50.1%) ▲self-development that helps with economic activities like investment study (49.7%) ▲hobbies in areas of interest (45.9%).
8 out of 10 Say "You Need Money to Do Self-Development"
As many as 78.0% of respondents consider increasing their own value to become an irreplaceable person as the best financial strategy, confirming that recently, 'Jatech' (self-financial technology) ? investing in oneself ? is regarded as a form of investment.
The reasons for the increase in Jatech include ▲raising one’s own value yields the highest returns (49.5%) ▲because society has high employment insecurity (48.4%) ▲because oneself is the most certain investment target in the future (66.1%) ▲and because investing in oneself has the highest chance of success (62.4%).
Accordingly, 6 out of 10 respondents (62.5%) expect the Jatech trend to increase further in the future, and 72.4% believe that more people will invest in themselves in various ways.
However, it is noteworthy that there is a strong perception that self-development can only be done if one has economic means (79.9%) and that the type of self-development one can pursue depends on their economic level (86.2%).
This result shows that economic status can make self-development difficult, which may cause extreme fatigue in today’s society where self-development has become essential, or even lead to feelings of relative deprivation.
Embrain emphasized, "The types of self-development available inevitably vary depending on economic status, which is likely to highlight wealth disparities further. To prepare for the future while growing healthily, it is important to establish one’s own standards that accept oneself as they are, rather than pursuing unconditional 'self-development.'"
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