The insidious chiseling effect of inflation, compounded by an ever-mounting tax burden

One bright morning in 2007, as I sipped my coffee, my grandfather radiated joy, showering me with congratulatory words on the start of my professional journey. A former bureaucrat, he nostalgically compared his salary and perks to my corporate six-figure compensation. Yet, I couldn’t ignore the glaring truth-when adjusted for the relentless erosion of purchasing power caused by inflation, his modest earnings could have purchased far more gold than my seemingly impressive package.

The insidious chiseling effect of inflation, compounded by an ever-mounting tax burden, leaves little room for financial maneuvering. Within this constrained reality, investing in securities emerges as both a necessity and an opportunity- an expansive ocean teeming with possibilities, albeit bounded by inherent risks and limitations.

70% individual investors in equity cash segment incurred losses in FY23: Sebi study

The study also found that the share of loss-makers increased to 80 percent for traders with very frequent (more than 500 trades in a year) trading activity.

Average number of trades by loss-makers was higher than the profit makers, said the study.

More than seventy percent of individual investors in the equity cash segment incurred losses in FY23, a study conducted by capital markets regulator Sebi found.
The study has been peer reviewed by academia, brokers and market experts.

In a press statement issued on July 24, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said that the number of individuals who were participating in intraday trading in the equity cash segment in FY23 shot up by 300 percent from the number seen in FY19.