Gen Y not looking for traditional retirement

Three-quarters of these affluent Gen Y investors said they aren’t planning for “traditional retirement,” the survey found. They have short-term savings goals like vacations and emergency funds, but their long-term goal is to avoid depending on an employer for their livelihood. For example, 42 percent said they want to save enough money so that they can work less and spend their time doing whatever they want when they get older.

“Gen Y desires financial independence rather than retirement,” Chris Brown, Hearts & Wallets LLC principal, said in a statement. “Gen Y could become more engaged with DC plans if the financial services industry promoted more qualified plan benefits beyond saving for retirement, like tax deferral.”

Brown added that since many Gen Y investors don’t own homes and don’t qualify for the mortgage interest deduction, other perks like tax deferral or employer matches can be “very appealing.”

Unlike other working age segments, Gen Y respondents were the only group to be more likely to invest in a brokerage account than in a DC plan, according to the survey.