Appetite for Advice

The same Schwab 401(k) study found that workers’ appetite for financial advice has increased in the last year.

According to the study, 61% say their financial situation warrants advice from a professional, higher than last year (55%). Plus, more workers would be very confident in making the right 401(k) investment decisions with the help of a financial professional (55%, up from 49%), than they would making those decisions on their own (29%, up from 27%).

Workers are most likely to say they seek advice directly through their 401(k) plan (39%), followed closely by their financial advisor (35%), family and friends (27%), and their employer (25%). Sixty-one percent are comfortable asking artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT for help with financial planning, up from 49% in 2023. Still, more say they are very likely to follow human professional advice recommendations (60%) rather than computer-generated recommendations (19%).

“Improved 401(k) confidence is not necessarily an indicator that workers are comfortable going it alone,” said Marci Stewart, director of Client Experience at Schwab Workplace Financial Services. “In fact, they are realizing that professional help has the potential to further accelerate their progress.”