In the focus of the videos, the protagonists are people next door, young men and women, with knowledge, however, in the economy, who can explain to the general public how much money they will have in twenty years if they invest a hundred euros a month in an investment account. Between scenes from the Matrix and a few graphics, they point out that inflation means that the thousand euros we painstakingly saved in our first year of work are worth much less now that we retire. After all, they declare that they are shocked by the fact that six out of ten in Greece do not have a single salary saved aside…
Finance influencers are the new trend on the internet, with simple advice on how to do well, since these people produce entertaining content, use the Internet like any self-respecting influencer, and provide simple step-by-step savings and investment solutions. They also assure that they are not pulling rabbits out of hats, state that they are not investment or legal advisors and recommend that everyone not take investment or legal advice just from a guy on the internet, but do their own research, since, as they say, knowledge can go against fear.
“According to the Financial Greeks survey, carried out last October by Palmos Analysis on financial literacy, in a sample of 1019 people across Greece, six out of ten cannot have some funds available in case of an emergency or have not kept more than a salary. Only two out of ten have an emergency reserve equal to or greater than six salaries”, says the businessman, investor and Youtuber Christos Tsounis to APE – MPE, who founded Financial Greeks in 2021, a community of influencers that can speak to the world in quality about the financial.
The survey showed, after all, that only 7% of the sample have investments, only 14% regularly save 10% of their income or more, and only 3.3% save and have active investments at the same time. Otherwise, 47% of Greeks save only when they can and 22.4% do not save or have no active investments. Mr. Tsounis, for his part, who has helped tens of thousands of people get their finances in order, with 101,000 subscribers to his channel, 1,300 videos and 18 million views, points out that the positives of the research include that women look more willing to ask for help in order to save and invest while young people have a greater ease in this area than older people as they search for the relevant information.
Five steps to financial prosperity
In a framework of general recommendations, Mr. Tsounis defines the five steps for financial prosperity:
-planning a monthly budget,
– the creation of an emergency fund,
-regular saving and timely payment of bills,
-maintaining a balanced investment portfolio and
-receiving advice from professionals when making financial decisions.
Despite the above, he points out that “no matter how much one saves money in his life, he will never be able to be safe” since he will have to invest it. “This is a small step but it makes all the difference in the world. Investing is something very simple that everyone can do, once they realize that there is a different way of managing their finances that they just haven’t been exposed to until now,” he says. So anyone over the age of 18 can open an investment account and choose what they want to put into it. He suggests simple products that don’t require much research and can be purchased monthly for twenty years to secure one’s future.
A key point in the above investment is a small act over time as, as he mentions, even if someone saves fifty euros a month, in one year he will have six hundred euros and in ten years six thousand. After all, the factor that works multiplicatively in investments is compounding, in combination with the long period of time.
Presenting two typical examples of starting an investment, literally with zero capital, he emphasizes that by placing in an investment account one hundred euros every month for 40 years, in a product with an average return of 10%, the investment will reach 637,000 euros and the profit is calculated at 589,000 euros. Accordingly, if the amount invested every month is two hundred euros, then in the same period of 40 years, the investment will reach 1,275,365 euros and the profit 1,179,365 euros.
In any case, Christos Tsounis, who together with the co-founder of Financial Greeks, Ioanna Fotopoulou, was awarded the Stelios Awards 2022 entrepreneurship award and is among the forty young entrepreneurs under 40 who stood out in 2023 according to Fortune Greece magazine, clarifies that “it is not gambling, as is the case with cryptocurrencies” and states that despite the “trauma of the stock market” that some years ago left a negative impression on many, the situation has now improved while major stock exchanges in Europe and America show much greater stability. As for the possible risks of an investment in a stock market index, he considers the possible collapse of an insurance system more dangerous, since, as he notes, “the markets as a whole and in the long term are going up”.
In addition, he underlines that apart from buying a product that is actually tax-free, one does not need to choose stocks (since no one knows how to choose the best ones in a targeted manner), nor to deal with any process at all. “All that is required is for someone to create an online account at a stock exchange and automatically transfer an amount every month to it. It’s as simple as creating a social media account. From then on, he should feel nothing about his investments. He should know that they are there and they will give some money back, available at any time without his involvement,” he adds.
He acknowledges, at the same time, that the global economic data has changed and emphasizes that most people have not made a mistake because of which they found themselves in a difficult financial situation. However, he emphasizes the value of educating each person in the new data that is being formed and reminds that inaction allows inflation to “eat” the money that may be in the bank, in the piggy bank or at home. After all, the benefits of such a move are multiple, both for reasons of financial security and for securing a pension fund for tomorrow.
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