Fifty-three percent of investors in their late twenties and thirties said that "possibly missing out on investment growth is a bigger worry to me than the risk of losing money in the short term," up 16 percent from 37 percent in 2012, according to a Hearts & Wallets survey released today.
For the Investor Mindset study, the Hingham, Mass.-based financial research firm surveyed investors ages 21 and older. Hearts & Wallets split Millennials into two groups: emerging investors – ages 21 to 27, and early career investors – ages 28 to 39. (There are no precise dates for when the Millennials were born. A report conducted by the Pew Research Center defines adult Millennials as those who are aged 18 to 33 years, born between 1981 and 1996.)
Slightly less, 49 percent of emerging investors were more worried about missing out on growth than losing money.
Regarding the entire group, Chris Brown, partner and co-founder of Hearts & Wallets, said, “Millennials are going through a dramatic shift as they see the impact of the recent bull market and how their strategy of holding cash is costing them.”
“Advisors have an opportunity to begin relationships as they are just getting into the markets,” said Laura Varas, principal and co-founder of Hearts & Wallets.
For both groups, the top financial goal was to build an emergency fund, followed by having enough money to 'be able to work less/spend time as I want when I am older.' To 'stop work altogether/retire' came in a distant third.
“Not everything has to focus on retiring from work,” said Varas. “Younger investors want to take matters into their own hands to learn more about good savings and investment behaviors to accomplish their top goals, especially security against the unexpected and flexibility for when they are older.”
“Financial services firms have a great opportunity to shape the financial future of investors, especially millennials,” said Varas.