Financial Literacy and Investment Decisions among Youth: An Analysis Using Prism of Age

Modern financial management relies on financial literacy, which affects investment decisions. To make smart savings, borrowing, and investment decisions in the increasingly complicated financial world, one must grasp and utilize financial facts. Younger investors’ decisions have received attention as they become more interested in financial markets. Studies reveal financial competence, risk tolerance, and societal effect affect these choices. Traditional financial education and modern social influence create a unique atmosphere where new investors are informed and affected by multiple sources. This accessibility has raised concerns regarding impulsive and speculative investment methods, as younger investors may trade high-risk securities without fully understanding the hazard. While the financial literacy initiatives are performing well in their execution, more thorough study is needed to investigate their influence on young investing behavior. Some particular research questions about how the socio-economic elements are related with financial literacy; and investment decisions and how the financial literacy influences the investment decisions among the youth have been tried to be answered thorough this research. This study is confined to the state of Himachal Pradesh, further grounded on both quantitative as well as qualitative approaches to gather data from a random sample of 631 respondents with the help of online surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Data has been synthesized using descriptive statistics such frequency distribution, percentage, mean, standard deviation, variance, skewness, and kurtosis. After then, demographic characteristics, particularly the age of respondents has been used to cross-tabulate the associations. The hypotheses were examined using Chi-Square Test of Independence and ANOVA/F-test. The survey highlights the critical relationship between financial literacy and investment decisions among youth, with age playing a central role in shaping both financial knowledge and investment behaviors. Enhancing financial literacy through education could lead to better investment decisions, improved confidence, and more informed financial behaviors among the youth.