Do the international wealthy enjoy participating in active hobbies, or do they prefer to kick back and relax when they leave the office?

Perhaps due to their experience of change, perhaps due to their desire to test new waters, those HNW individuals who have relocated enjoy active hobbies, such as volunteering, playing music and travelling, alongside laid-back past times like watching TV, listening to music and gaming.

The most popular substantial purchase for the European wealthy is a high value piece of technology. For more than half of the respondents, a week is all it takes to make a decision to buy.

When it comes to spending their hard-earned cash, Europe’s wealthy are avid consumers of digital technologies. An overwhelming 94% of millennials have purchased some form of high value technology, while this number drops to 84% of Gen X and 67% for baby boomers.

However, it seems that older generations prefer quality over quantity; the average gadget spend among baby boomers was €1.46m, compared to €0.43 for millennials.

To antique, or not to antique? That is the question. As individuals of wealth, Europe’s HNW’s are often posed with the conundrum of where best to spend their large sums of their money. Often, HNWs purchase assets that grow in value such as art, property, or businesses.

NPG data has shown that the largest sums of money spent amongst those with a net worth under €2m as well as those between €2-5m usually go towards the purchase of new houses and cars.

But for those with a net worth over €5m, old can be gold; they are more likely to spend money on artwork and antiques than their less wealthy peers.

For a growing number of these UHNWs, antiques seem to be a way of differentiating themselves in their investments by expressing taste and culture through their acquisitions.

Many of those at the top of the wealth curve are generous with their money and time, feeling a strong social responsibility to give back.

Our Meaning of Life survey indicates that the wealthier the individual, the more likely they are to be involved in volunteering in their spare time than those further down the wealth curve. As well as contributing a great deal of time to others, those with a worth over €5m spend on average €7,800 on volunteering activities per annum.

Other hobbies coming closely behind include playing music (spending €5,532.7) and shopping (spending €5,479.5). Those with lower net worth do donate large sums towards volunteering but spend more money on other hobbies.

When it comes to the elusive millionaires and billionaires of Europe, it can often seem like their lives are at a great distance from the rest of us. In our latest research, HNWIs reveal the items on their bucket list, giving them a more human touch as we glimpse into their worlds filled with ambitions, hopes and fears which sometimes overlap with ours.

The most popular aspiration is to tour the world and travel, while many others simply want to be happy. A fair amount have also named extreme sports such as bungee jumping, parachuting, and scuba diving as boxes to be ticked off in their lifetime.

Once their many goals have been set, Europe’s wealthy will use a diversity of investment products to save towards their objectives.

The preferences for these products will vary depending on whether or not they have relocated in the past 10 years, and as such the research shows that 29% of those who have moved use life assurance as a way of saving while only 19% of those who have not relocated use this investment tool.

Ninety-three percent of HNWs are saving towards a financial goal, demonstrating their conscious efforts to plan for the future. This number increases to 97% for internationally mobile individuals, and drops to 91% for those who have not moved countries in the past 10 years.

The relocaters are also more likely to be saving towards every type of goal than those who have not relocated, with the exception of retirement.

The largest discrepancies in goal savings between the two demographics are for a luxury vehicle, fashion, and technology.

The European wealthy consults a diverse array of sources for financial advice. Financial advisors are the most frequently used primary resource for guidance on money matters, serving 28% of HNW.

Twenty-five percent of HNWIs prefer to discuss financial matters with family members/friends and 23% turn to private bankers.

This divided preference suggests there is not a single business model which is able to meet the needs of the wealthy. It is also possible that professional advice is deemed non-essential, as personal networks are almost just as likely to be looked towards for advice.