In a poll conducted among 1,006 U.S. adults a few days after the Nov. 8 elections, Country Financial, a group of insurance and financial services companies, found millennials less optimistic about their financial security than older generations. More than 70% said the economy this year would be worse off than in 2016.
Country’s financial security index score rose just 0.2 points year over year to 66.8. However, millennials’ score was only 60.9, compared with 66.6 for Gen Xers, 69.2 for baby boomers and 71.2 for the silent generation (65 and older).
Remove millennials from the mix, and all other age groups were much more optimistic about their finances. The average index score registered 68.7, compared with 68 in December 2015.
The financial security index examines Americans’ current sentiments about their overall personal financial security on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 indicating the highest level of security, and compares that to previous years.
The index also measures respondents’ confidence in a variety of individual personal finance topics, such as their ability to pay back debts, set aside money for savings or investments and retire comfortably.
“As we transition from the recent election results and head into a new year, we are seeing a mix in confidence among people of all ages as they try to better understand the overall economic outlook and their own personal financial future,” Country Financial’s director of wealth management Troy Frerichs said in a statement.
“That is why it’s important to create specific plans tailored to your life stage to help ease any anxiety, for millennials and all other generations, and secure one’s financial objectives early and achievably.”
Millennials’ Uneasiness