2024 Schwab Modern Wealth Survey Shows Increasing Financial Confidence From Generation to Generation and Younger Americans Investing at an Earlier Age
Key Highlights:
- More than 60% of Americans feel they are in a better position to achieve their financial goals than the generations that came before them.
- Nearly three in five Americans are investing today.
- Investing participation is higher among older generations, but younger generations are beginning to invest sooner.
- More than a quarter of Gen Z were taught about investing in school, significantly more than older generations.
- Just 36% of Americans have a written financial plan.
One factor likely driving this positivity is a surge in the number of Americans investing in the stock market. Schwab’s survey shows that almost three in five Americans (58%) are investing today, in line with recent
In fact, when asked why they are in better financial shape than previous generations, the Schwab survey indicates that Americans believe they have more ways to build wealth (50%), increased accessibility to investing (46%) and additional investment options available to them (46%).
Among Gen Z in particular, the top reason for increased financial confidence is improved access to investing. This generation, which starts with those born in the late 1990s, began saving and investing when they turned 19 years old on average, nearly half the age of when Boomers started investing (35), according to Schwab’s data.
|
All Americans |
Gen Z |
Millennials |
Gen X |
Boomers |
Investing today |
58% |
45% |
54% |
58% |
63% |
Age started investing |
30 |
19 |
25 |
32 |
35 |
Reasons Americans feel they’re more likely to reach their financial goals than previous generations |
|||||
|
All Americans |
Gen Z |
Millennials |
Gen X |
Boomers |
There are more ways to build wealth now |
50% |
40% |
44% |
45% |
68% |
Investing is more accessible now |
46% |
42% |
40% |
43% |
58% |
There are more investment options now |
46% |
41% |
39% |
41% |
64% |
There is better financial technology now |
45% |
38% |
44% |
43% |
56% |
Financial education is more available now |
43% |
31% |
41% |
48% |
51% |
When comparing themselves to their parents at their age, more than half of all Americans surveyed believe that they are doing a better job at investing (51%), and they also feel they’re living their desired lifestyle more than their parents did at their age (52%).
“There has never been a better time to be an investor, and it’s a very positive sign to see that more Americans than ever before are engaged with their personal finances and taking steps to build long-term wealth, in particular younger generations who are getting started with saving and investing earlier in their lives,” said
Investing Information Age
Across all generations, nearly 70% of Americans are confident in their investment strategy, and the availability of financial advice and knowledge (51%) and the ability to easily research companies and investments (37%) are cited as the top reasons. Gen Z, who are the most confident of the generations (71%), say that learning about investing at an early age is the biggest reason for their confidence, and more than a quarter report that they were taught about investing in school, significantly more than older generations. In fact, roughly half of all those who are not confident in their investment strategy say that not being taught about investments at a young age by parents or family or not being taught about investments in school are their top reasons for lack of investing confidence.
Reasons Americans are confident in their investment strategy |
|||||
All Americans |
Gen Z |
Millennials |
Gen X |
Boomers |
|
Financial advice and knowledge are readily available |
51% |
38% |
46% |
56% |
55% |
It is easy to access research about companies and investments |
37% |
35% |
34% |
37% |
39% |
It is easy to access investments |
33% |
34% |
35% |
28% |
35% |
I learned about investing at a young age |
27% |
43% |
31% |
26% |
18% |
I was taught about investments in school |
16% |
28% |
19% |
12% |
9% |
In addition to taking advantage of more widely available investment advice, educational resources, and investing tools, American investors today, particularly younger ones, are also exploring a wider range of investing strategies. Though buy and hold (56%) and growth investing (53%) are the most common approaches, Schwab’s survey shows Americans are also integrating more recent innovations in the investing space such as fractional share investing (37%), direct indexing (32%), socially responsible investing (31%), automated or robo-advisor investing (28%), and thematic investing (25%) into their strategies.
“Investing is becoming a passion for an increasing number of Americans—they are more engaged than ever with their investments and are taking advantage of all the information and knowledge at their fingertips,” said
Investing strategies Americans currently implement |
|||||
All Americans |
Gen Z |
Millennials |
Gen X |
Boomers |
|
Buy and hold |
56% |
57% |
59% |
48% |
60% |
Growth investing |
53% |
57% |
56% |
51% |
49% |
Fractional shares investing |
37% |
48% |
48% |
33% |
25% |
Direct indexing |
32% |
44% |
42% |
26% |
23% |
Socially responsible investing |
31% |
43% |
45% |
27% |
17% |
Robo-advisor investing |
28% |
40% |
41% |
25% |
11% |
Thematic investing |
25% |
41% |
41% |
20% |
9% |
The Planning Gap
When it comes to financial advice, Americans are more likely to engage with a professional financial advisor (59%) or family or friends (57%) than social media platforms (42%) according to Schwab’s survey.
In fact, most Americans don’t follow any social media influencers for financial advice (76%) and remain skeptical about social media's effectiveness in making it easier to manage their money. Nearly two-thirds feel that social media has had no impact on managing their investments, and less than a quarter (24%) feel it has made it easier. Most grade social media platforms the lowest relative to other sources of financial advice.
How Americans grade sources of financial advice |
||
A/B |
D/F |
|
Professional financial advisor |
76% |
9% |
Accountant |
68% |
13% |
Investment firm |
68% |
12% |
Family |
44% |
23% |
Friends |
35% |
28% |
|
20% |
54% |
TikTok |
17% |
64% |
Twitter/X |
16% |
65% |
Despite increased access to investing, education and advice, those surveyed acknowledge that there’s more they can do, with fewer than one in five Americans (18%) overall saying they are currently on top of their finances. Nearly one-third (32%) feel they are on track to being more on top of their finances and another one-third (34%) feel they need to make changes in order to feel more in control.
One key area for improvement among Americans is financial planning. According to Schwab’s survey, only 36% of Americans have a written financial plan. Among those who do, three in four say it makes them feel more in control of their finances and nearly all (96%) say they feel confident that they will reach their financial goals.
Among those who don’t have a plan, most say it’s because they don’t have enough money (43%), it’s too complicated (25%) or they don’t have enough time (21%).
“Investing and financial planning are more accessible and more affordable today than ever before, and while we see that Americans are making great strides with their personal finances overall, there is still room for improvement when it comes to more formalized financial planning,” said Williams. “Once clients start the process, they realize a financial plan isn’t just a document to file away. Whether you get started with a do-it-yourself digital financial plan or in-depth conversation with a planning professional, financial plans today include interactive digital planning tools to help monitor progress and understand how changes in your life goals or circumstances can impact your plans.”
About the
The online survey was conducted by
Disclosures
The information here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. The investment strategies mentioned here may not be suitable for everyone. Each investor needs to review an investment strategy for his or her own particular situation before making any investment decision.
All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic or geopolitical conditions.
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