InsuranceNewsNet and PCS staff
Millennials, an abbreviation for millennial generation, is a term used by demographers to describe a segment of the population that came to maturity around the year 2000. For this generation financial planning is provides a challenge because of needed financial advisors to help them.
A recent survey sited 64 percent of investors 35-years old or younger said they had a financial plan, but 68 percent said that at their current rate of investment they would not enough to pay for the retirement in a fashion they hoped for.
The survey found that 36 percent of these young investors guessed at how much they needed to fund their retirement,
So when are these young investors going to turn to advisors for help?
“We recommend that millennials work with a professional advisor,” Mike Spangler, president of Nationwide’s mutual funds business, said in a news release.
Although 58 percent of the millennials surveyed said they conducted their own financial research and made their own financial decisions, only half said they were confident they knew how much to save.
For those without a financial plan, 28 percent believed that creating one was an overwhelming task, and 40 percent said they had not gotten around to creating a plan.
Millennials may be the poster children for the gap between talk and action, but it is also important to keep in mind that young investors don’t know how much they will need far into the future, so perhaps they deserve a little slack.
The encouraging news for advisors is that 56 percent of the millennials surveyed said they would be more financially successful with professional advice — even if only 39 percent of them actually used a financial advisor.
Of the millennials who weren't using an advisor, 18 percent said they did not intend to use one.
“The financial industry has a real opportunity to help millennials understand how to balance the demand of paying for today with investing for their future,” Spangler said.
Millennials said they would need about $110,000 annually to live comfortably in retirement. They listed the top three financial planning resources - in order of importance - as family, retirement planning websites and financial advisors.