Building Wealth Meet Suresh Kumar...
He's an Indian man in his mid-30s. He likes to cook but has no one to cook for. He likes to watch romantic movies but has no one to watch them with. And he often wishes his life would have the heart-warming ending like the romantic movies he watches.
He's lonely and feels suffocated... And it's because he's unable to find love.
That's not to say he never had a chance at love... Earlier in his life, he had a romance with a 17-year old classmate but it was short-lived. Once their parents found out about the secret romance, they put a stop to it. Unfortunately, Kumar's former love interest went on to marry one of his classmates... But Kumar hasn't been so lucky.
After all the years, he's been unable to get married, which has always been a dream of his.
Having a wife and family is important in Indian culture. If you don't have a family, you're often isolated and ridiculed. Here's how Kumar described it...
You know how when there's no wind and a plant is sitting there and the leaves are not moving? That's how the man feels: You're just stationary.
Kumar even went back to earn his high school degree to become a more attractive prospect for females. It didn't work. And now that he's past what's considered the prime dating age, he's giving up all hope.
Kumar's story is not unique for men in India.
You see, Kumar can't find a wife not because he's the ugliest man in India or dumbest or the poorest – it's because the numbers don't add up.
In India, there's a massive gender imbalance – the country is overrun with males. As a result, it's impossible for some men, like Kumar, to find wives. There just aren't enough women to marry them. And that's leading to widespread loneliness and depression amongst men.
This gender imbalance problem really began in the 1970s and 1980s when fetal ultrasounds to determine sex became widely available. Since male children are so highly valued, families choose to have boys instead of girls.
Males light the Hindu funeral pyre, inherit property, and care for aging parents. Parties to welcome girl babies are so rare they are covered by the local newspaper.
There is a Sanskrit blessing that says, "May you be the mother of a hundred sons." Unfortunately for men of dating age, that's been the case.
Take a look at the numbers...
India has 37 million more males than females... There are 2.2 men ages 15-49 (what I'm calling the "dating age") for every female of the same age.
Think about that... For every female of dating age in India there's more than two males. That's a lot of testosterone.
And this ratio is only going to get worse...
Over the past couple decades, there's been a huge boom in baby boys. Back in the mid-2000s, there were about 112 male babies for every 100 female babies. And that gap was about the same in 2018. That difference may not seem like a lot... but it is.
Last year, there were 6.2 million more baby boys than girls in India.
So again, right now there are 2.2 men ages 15-49 for every female of the same age. And since male births outpace female births, the male-to-female ratio is only going to get worse.
By 2070, there's going to be about 2.6 men ages 15-49 for every female, according to the United Nations World Population Prospects. That's insane!
No wonder Kumar and other Indian men like him are unable to find wives... There are simply too many men.
In some villages, there may be three or four boys to every girl. That means many boys won't grow up with girlfriends and won't become comfortable socializing with the other sex just because it's a game of musical chairs... and most of the time there aren't as many chairs as there needs to be.
This is a massive problem for India. It's a huge theme that's going to continue for decades. We're going to write more about this in the next few weeks, but in closing, I want to give you a stock that is going to profit from this continental problem...
It's dating company Match Group (MTCH). When men are unable to find wives because there aren't enough females in their local villages, they just don't give up and become hermits... They go online. And since they're out of options, they're willing to pay. When they're online they have a slightly greater chance to find a partner. That's where Match comes in.
Match has a host of dating products that connect singles. And they're simple to use. Its main growth product – Tinder – is the No. 1 dating app in the world. And it has blown up in India.
In 2018, Tinder had about 3 million unique visitors in India, which is up from around 1.5 million back in July 2017. Management is committed to growing its presence more in India, calling the country its "top market in Asia."
Match already dominates the global dating market. That's why I've been bullish on the company since December 2017. And given the opportunity dating apps – and especially Tinder – have in India, I think an investor who is looking for long-term capital appreciation needs to own Match Group.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: Ethiopia urges Boeing to review controls, backs pilots.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
April 4, 2019