Millennials dream of being millionaires by middle age, according to a recent survey by Chicago-based YCharts, but their aspirational reach may exceed their grasp of personal finances and investing
Nearly two-thirds of millennials aged 22 to 37 believed that they would have seven-figure wealth by the age of 45 or sooner, according to YCharts' Millennial Saving & Investing Habits survey – but they tend to have small balances in their savings and investment accounts.
Only 25 percent of the millennials surveyed had savings and investment account balances totaling more than $100,000, while another 37 percent had balances between $25,000 and $100,000.
As a group, millennials are largely satisfied going it alone when it comes to financial planning and investing. According to the survey, 53 percent of millennials manage their own investments and intend to keep it that way. Only 11 percent of the respondents had account directed by a traditional advisor, while 41 percent were using a self-directed brokerage account and another 31 percent were engaged with roboadvisors or investing apps.
Only 30 percent of millennials who don’t use an advisor believe they are likely to use one in the future.
Many respondents were uncertain about whether they were saving and investing appropriately for their goals. Nearly one-third of the survey participants, 31 percent, were either somewhat or very nervous about their savings and investments.
On the bright side, YCharts found strong levels of saving among its participants – 44 percent of the respondents were saving at least 15 percent of their income, and 53 percent were saving at least 12 percent.
“The business model of many of today’s financial advisors is under attack,” said Sean Brown, CEO and president at YCharts, in released comments.“With the $30 trillion wealth transfer underway and financial advisors being asked to justify their fees, it’s critical to understand the needs of the millennial generation. Our data indicates that millennials are ambitious, aggressive savers, and with the current market conditions, financial advisors have a limited opportunity to demonstrate their value proposition.”
So how can advisors appeal to a generation that, for the most part, is still a decade or two away from their peak earnings years and committed to do-it-yourself investing and planning?
Ycharts argues that advisors should use younger generations’ short-termism as an advantage by focusing their value propostion around major life events that happen before and near the mid-career stage, like home purchasing, family planning and building resilience against emergencies.