Most people would own more financial products if they understood them

Younger Americans are the most knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies but have a need for advice on other investment and wealth-building products.

More than half of young Millennials are crypto savvy, but 72% say that they would own more financial products if they were more educated about them. Across all adult generations 60% said this was limiting their spread of financial products owned.

Those with annual incomes of $200,000+ use all investment products significantly more than those whose annual income is less than $149,000.

The stats are from a recent survey of working adults by financial planning and wealth management firm Barnum Financial Group, headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut with 30 offices nationwide and over 400 independent financial advisors.

Retirement is the top financial goal cited by respondents with 80% of affluent adults saying that engaging in financial planning would give them peace of mind. Debt comes out as the biggest challenge while being debt free is seen as the definition of financial freedom in retirement.

“A key finding from this report is that a significant amount of unmet financial needs exists among the working population,” said Paul Blanco, Barnum’s president and CEO. “Some 42% of affluent working Americans say the lack of understanding of fees and costs has prevented them from purchasing financial-services products. Similarly, not having enough money and feeling intimidated keeps many from working with a financial advisor or insurance professional. When it comes to helping Americans attain financial freedom, this survey shows that there remains a lot of work to be done by the advisor community.”

Asked about financial preparedness, younger Millennials beat other generations and this group, along with Gen Zs, are significantly more likely than Generation X and Boomers to be enrolled in long-term care insurance and critical injury insurance.

FINANCIAL PREPAREDNESS

Across all respondents men (88%) are more financially prepared than women (66%) and men (95%) report that the mutual funds they are currently invested in are significantly more valuable to them compared to women (88%).

ETFs, despite their growing popularity, are not widely understood with none of the generations saying they are “very experienced” with these products along with derivatives, commodities or other so-called alternative or exotic investments.

“This is a very in-depth and revealing study,” added Blanco. “Our aim, as always, is to gain a better and more holistic understanding of our clients’ knowledge of and comfort level with investment and insurance products. One of our key goals is to remove emotional reactions from the retirement-planning process by creating an individualized plan for each client, with which they will be comfortable for the long term.”