Stuff it in a mattress—that’s the lesson millennials learned from their parents, as they admit to more knowledge of saving than investing.
Now comprising the largest percentage of the workforce, with a new crop of recent graduates about to embark upon their professional careers, millennials report not feeling confident they’re saving enough for the future overall, according to findings from PNC Investments’ Millennials & Investing Survey.
Equally troubling, more than half of millennials admit they do not have an emergency fund. The survey finds millennials agree they learned about saving money at a young age, but did not receive as much guidance from their parents about building wealth through investing.
While almost two-thirds of millennials report that their parents always encouraged them to save money while they were children, only half say their family modeled good money management and even fewer disclose that their parents showed them ways to grow wealth beyond having a job.
“It’s no secret that our attitudes toward money are likely influenced by how much financial education we received as children and the types of role models we have in our immediate family,” Rich Ramassini, senior vice president and director of strategy and sales performance for PNC Investments, said in a statement. “However, this survey finds that millennials’ financial education largely skewed toward savings instead of investing. When it comes to building wealth over the long-term, investing is a critical component of a portfolio and one that should not be ignored.”
The survey reports that younger millennials—those who were likely in high school during the 2008-2009 Great Recession—describe their family as having modeled good money management slightly more so than older millennials, who were likely in college or in the workforce during the same time period.
Of the millennials surveyed, 79 percent between the ages of 25 and 29 say their parents talked to them about managing finances, while 70 percent of millennials between the ages of 30-35 report the same.
“The money mindset that millennials adopted during their childhood could derail their long-term financial goals,” Ramassini added.
About half of millennials say they expect to retire with financial stability, though most admit that they do not have a solid understanding of how to successfully invest their money.
“As this generation matures and acquires more wealth, it’s absolutely critical that they devise a comprehensive financial plan, which consists of an emergency fund, a mix of savings and investing and an intimate understanding of their future goals,” Ramassini concluded.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
