Akshat Shrivastava, a financial planner, has strongly criticized the idea of daily wage earners investing in stock markets through micro SIP, calling it “risky and stupid.” He argued that such a move reflects desperation and a lack of understanding of financial priorities.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Shrivastava referred to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to illustrate his point.
“There is something called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Step 1: People satisfy their needs (food, water, shelter, clothes).
Step 2: People achieve their wants (sending kids to school, some free time to rest).
Step 3: They work towards their desires (e.g., retirement planning, etc.),” he wrote.
Comparing India to the US, he noted that over 62% of American adults invest in stock markets due to higher per capita GDP, which allows them to focus on long-term financial goals. In contrast, he said, India’s economic situation makes it unwise to push stock market investments onto low-income earners.
“People should have jobs, build discretionary income first. Then worry about the magic of compounding,” he added.
Shrivastava’s post was in response to Gurmeet Chadha, Managing Partner & CIO at Compcircle, who hailed the move by SEBI and SBI to launch Rs 250 SIP.
“A weekly Rs 250 SIP can generate 16 lac in 20 years. Daily wage earners ,low income group can immensely benefit from financial inclusion. Very welcome step by SEBI & AMCs,” Chadha wrote.
However, not everyone agreed with his viewpoint. One user countered, saying, “I disagree with you, Akshat bhai. An average daily wage earner gets ₹500 a day and can manage with ₹300 expenses per day. They used to run self-banks like self-help groups. Investment in Nifty Bees is just ₹250 now. Four units of Nifty Bees is also not a bad idea.”
Shrivastava responded, questioning what would happen if the market dropped by 20%, wiping out a portion of their limited savings. He emphasized that true investing requires the ability to stay long-term in the market, which comes from financial stability — not from lowering the entry barrier to encourage speculation.
“All this does is increase speculation,” he said.
Another user countered, “We can agree to disagree… a lot of them are also victims of Ponzi schemes . A regulated product with proper education can do wonders.”
“Compounding is not only money but comes with education in investment, educating children, giving them basis needs, focusing on health. Also, 250/day may be tough for many but we can train them how to save and invest and wait for a period for it’s fruit,” wrote another.
SBI Mutual Fund and SBI have collaboratively introduced JanNivesh SIP, a versatile SIP option starting at only Rs 250 with daily, weekly, and monthly investment plans available. This initiative aims to empower first-time investors and small savers residing in rural, semi-urban, and urban areas to participate in mutual fund schemes.