Kamal Ghorui
MUMBAI: A study of respondents across Gujarat and Rajasthan said wider financial access has not fully translated into financial maturity or household resilience, pointing to gaps in retirement planning, understanding of compound interest, and preparedness for financial shocks in the two states surveyed. The report, Financial Maturity Index: A Survey of Two States, was released by the JM Financial Centre for Financial Research, IIM Udaipur, and PRICE.In his foreword, Saurabh Garg, secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, said, “Expanding access to financial services is an important milestone. Ensuring informed and responsible usage is the next frontier.”Garg also said the findings would help policymaking. “The Financial Maturity Index represents a constructive step toward integrating behavioural and capability-based metrics into the broader evidence framework that informs national policy.”The survey focused on Gujarat and Rajasthan as two economically significant but structurally different states. Gujarat was selected for its deeper industrialisation, higher urbanisation, and stronger formal finance penetration, while Rajasthan reflected greater rural dispersion, higher dependence on agriculture and informal livelihoods, and historically lower formal financial engagement in several regions.One key weakness identified was understanding compound interest. Only around 35% of respondents in Gujarat and 38% in Rajasthan answered a basic compounding question correctly. The report called this a “crucial maturity gap” because weak understanding of compounding can hurt long-term wealth creation.Retirement planning was another weak area. A substantial majority, 72.4%, said they had “hardly thought” about their financial needs after retirement. More than 55% said they “haven’t started yet” when it comes to retirement savings. The study said this showed a gap between awareness and structured long-term action.The report also highlighted behavioural stress. While more than 85% preferred saving over non-essential spending, more than half said financial matters were stressful, and over a third admitted postponing important financial decisions. According to the study, this creates a behavioural trap where households seek security but delay action.Dependence on informal support systems remained high. Around 72.9% of households said they would turn to family and friends for emergency funds rather than formal financial buffers. In digital borrowing, Rajasthan recorded usage of 3.6%, compared with 0.4% in Gujarat.The survey also found gender differences in credit behaviour. Female borrowers were perceived to show stronger repayment discipline, with 62.1% said to always repay on time against 42.1% for men. However, women also faced greater barriers to credit access, with 83.5% citing lack of collateral in their own name as a key hurdle.Overall scores in the Financial Maturity Index were concentrated at the lower end, typically between 15 and 40 on a 100-point scale. The report said high financial maturity remained uncommon in the surveyed states, and argued that the next phase of inclusion should focus on building household capability and resilience.
