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October 08, 2014 at 09:59 AM
People starting their careers often worry about their finances, and many don’t know whom to trust for advice, according to a study published Wednesday by Fidelity Investments.
Thirty-three percent of survey participants in the 25-to-34 age group — millennials or Gen Yers — identified their parents as the top choice as advisors on money matters, but 23% said they trusted “no one” when it came to advice about money, making this the second most common response.
This lack of trust may indicate that Gen Yers tend to be more independent and prefer making their own money decisions, Fidelity said in a statement.
That doesn’t necessarily translate into peace of mind, however, as 39% said they worried about their financial future at least once a week.
Women in the study tended to be less confident than men, 19% of whom insisted they never worried about their financial security, vs. only 2% of women who said the same.
“Feeling financially ‘on their own’ about finances also could be fallout from the Great Recession, since many Gen Yers witnessed their parents and grandparents struggle with the impact of job losses, tighter budgets and/or declining retirement accounts,” Fidelity Investments senior vice president Kristen Robinson said in the statement.
“Whatever the reason, this generation fortunately has a big advantage — the luxury of time, as nothing is more powerful than the impact of saving early and often.”
The new Fidelity study was a follow-up to the firm’s 2014 Intra-Family Generational Finance study, an online poll of U.S. parents and their adult children that examined the levels of agreement between families on key financial topics.
The follow-up study, conducted in early April, was designed to gain a millennial perspective on many of the first poll’s financial questions. It examined 152 adults born between 1980 and 1989 who had at least one living parent.
Family Ties
The study revealed a strong connection between Gen Y and family. Besides trusting their parents most on money matters, 76% of Gen Yers said they did not have any difficulty starting conversations with parents about saving and investing for the future.
