LGBT investors are more optimistic than investors as a whole, a fact that is partially attributable to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), says UBS Investor Watch.
According to a special edition of UBS Investor Watch focusing on the financial attitudes of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, 59 percent of LGBT investors say they are confident they will meet their financial goals, compared with 52 percent of all investors.
Sixty-seven percent of LGBT investors are optimistic about the long-term prospects of the economy, compared with 57 percent of other investors.
UBS surveyed 507 self-identified LGBT people and 2,219 others, all of whom have at least $250,000 in investable assets. Half have $1 million or more.
Forty-eight percent of LGBT investors feel the DOMA decision will have a positive impact on their financial security.
While LGBT investors are more optimistic than others about the U.S. economy and their personal financial situation, they are more concerned about personal financial issues. LGBT investors are more worried about being able to afford the health care and the support they will need in old age than investors as a whole (31 percent versus 25 percent).
They also are more worried about having someone to care for them in their old age (24 percent versus 13 percent), and having enough money for retirement (18 percent versus 11 percent).
Four out of the top five biggest personal financial concerns for LGBT investors are unique to their group: being able to find LGBT-friendly long-term care facilities (31 percent), having the right to make health care decisions for spouses or partners (29 percent), and ensuring that assets pass to the spouse or partner at death (25 percent), UBS says.
Nearly three-quarters of all respondents are concerned about the potential impact of the political environment in Washington on their personal financial lives. But they are less concerned than others about other issues such as the size of the national debt (39 percent versus 58 percent) and tax increases (26 percent versus 42 percent).
Of the LGBT investors, 54 percent feel the Supreme Court DOMA decision was a landmark ruling.
The UBS Investor Watch LGBT survey reveals interesting differences in how respondents view the impact of the DOMA ruling, based on whether their state of residence allows same sex marriage, UBS says. In states where same-sex marriage is legal, 63 percent of the LGBT investors say it was a landmark ruling, while only 49 percent of LGBT investors who live in states that do not allow same-sex marriage agree.