India’s new wealth rituals: What are millennials and Gen Z buying on Dhanteras?
Dhanteras investing is evolving from physical gold purchases toward diversified digital portfolios. Younger investors are embracing gold ETFs, mutual funds, Bitcoin and tokenised assets while retaining the festivals core goal of building wealth and financial security patiently.
Every Dhanteras, millions of Indian households purchase gold, silver, and other assets to welcome prosperity. For generations, the festival has rested on a simple and enduring aspiration: to preserve value today and build financial security for tomorrow. Physical gold has held a sacred place in this tradition because it joins cultural meaning with a dependable store of value.
For earlier generations, the ritual meant a visit to the local jeweller, a purchase of bullion or jewellery, and a place in the home safe or bank locker.
It was familiar, but it carried friction: making charges, storage and insurance costs, and the ever-present risk of loss or theft.
The aspiration endures. Its expression is changing. Millennials and Gen Z grew up with digital payments and app-based services, and they expect buying an asset to be as seamless as booking a ride.
Importantly, the shift is additive rather than substitutive. Many younger investors still buy gold, but increasingly through gold ETFs and mutual funds, which remove making charges and storage worries. Alongside this, digital platforms have opened equities, mutual funds and digital assets to anyone who can invest a modest sum each month.
Also Read |Dhanteras 2026: Buying gold today? Here's how to choose between jewellery, coins, ETFs and SGBs
The more consequential change is one of mindset.
The question is moving from “what should I buy this Dhanteras?” to “how should my assets work together?” Diversification, asset allocation, time horizon and position sizing shape long-term outcomes far more than the timing of any single purchase. A monthly systematic investment across gold, equity and other asset classes builds exposure steadily. Within such a framework, newer assets are best seen as a small satellite allocation around a diversified core.
Bitcoin has often been the first step into this ecosystem. Its decentralised network, fixed supply of 21 million coins and high divisibility explain why it is called digital gold. The comparison is useful but imperfect. Gold’s value rests on thousands of years of cultural consensus and broad jewellery and industrial demand. Bitcoin is about fifteen years old, and its price volatility is considerably higher. Its larger contribution may be conceptual: it showed that ownership can exist wholly in digital form, secured across a network.
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source
(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
Dhanteras investingdigital goldgold ETFsBitcointokenisationdigital assetsasset allocationportfolio diversificationGen Z investorswealth creation
(What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips, Budget 2025, Share Market on Budget 2025 and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .)
Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price
Source: ET Markets
Disclaimer: This article is for general information and does not constitute investment, tax or legal advice. Markets and rates change; please verify with official sources or a qualified professional before you act.
