Most Millionaires Don't Consider Themselves Wealthy: Ameriprise Survey

Survey respondents across all age groups said saving for retirement was their top financial priority. However, millennials and Gen Xers said paying down debt was their second biggest priority.

For their part, boomers cited protecting accumulated wealth as their second priority.

“Our research reveals that these investors are taking a long-term view of their finances — and the fact that they all cite saving for retirement as their top priority, regardless of where they fall on the age spectrum, points to this trend,” Keckler said.

The study found that 49% of respondents believed their approach to making long-term investing decisions was different or very different from that of their parents, compared with 42% who said their approach was similar or very similar.

Respondents also differed in how they handled investment decisions: 46% said they did it by themselves, 38% did it with someone else in their lives and 9% said their spouse or partner did it.

And in a finding that was consistent across all age groups, 51% of respondents agreed that aligning investments with personal values was more important today than it was 10 years ago.

Asked about their professional lives, respondents commonly said the amount of money a job pays was their chief consideration in evaluating career options. Flexibility and work-life balance was the second-most valued job attribute, followed by benefits, such as health and dental insurance and vacation time.

According to the survey, today’s investors would rather spend money on experiences than on things. Fifty-eight percent of all age groups agreed that the belief that “experiences are more important than possessions” was more common now than it was a decade ago.

— Related on ThinkAdvisor:

• How Do the Wealthy Spend Their Money?
• 12 Surprising Traits of the Wealthy
• How Much Money Do You Need to Be Wealthy in America?