The average Australian investor believes they need $14,800 to start investing, new research from HSBC has found. The estimate is well above the $500 required to purchase a minimum parcel of ASX-listed shares (let alone the micro-investing tools providing access to markets for as little as a few cents).

The survey of 1100 investors earlier this month, which was conducted by pollster YouGov, also found Generation X and Millennial investors were more likely to think more was needed to get in, compared to Boomers and Generation Z.