Millennial men, women invest distinctively
‘Financial upbringing’ differs, survey shows
Millennial men don’t mind risky investments such as bitcoin, or boosting their money knowledge with the help of the financial media. But their female peers are wary of risk, leery of the unregulated world of cryptocurrencies and more apt to gain financial knowledge from family members and employers.
Those differing approaches to personal finance were highlighted in PNC Investments’ 2018 Millennials & Investing Survey, obtained exclusively by USA TODAY
The distinct mindsets about money, the survey says, likely date to the Millennials’ childhoods. When they were kids growing up, the “financial upbringing” boys and girls received from mom and dad had slightly different focuses. Females received a more conservative message, one emphasizing “saving” rather than “investing.”
Nearly seven out of 10 (67 percent) female Millennials, for example, said their parents encouraged them to “save” money, versus just 58 percent of males. Similarly, only 29 percent of females surveyed said their parents “showed (them) ways to grow wealth.” By contrast, 37 percent of males said their financial education was focused on wealth-building, the survey found.
“For Millennial women, early savings education and encouragement did not always go hand in hand with the idea of investing, particularly between the ages of 13 and 18,” says Rich Ramassini, senior VP and director of strategy and sales performance for PNC Investments.
❚ How men view money: The men surveyed demonstrated a more aggres- sive approach to risk taking than their female peers, with 14 percent saying they “embrace risk.” That was double the percentage of women who said they welcomed risk.
The men in the survey expressed a greater willingness to bet on exotic investments such as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to boost returns in their retirement savings accounts, such as 401(k)s and IRAs. Their cash was more likely to be funneled into investments with greater return potential, such as stocks, mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Men also flashed more of a do-ityourself mentality, with nearly a third
(32 percent) saying they managed their own investments. A lot of their knowledge of personal finance was gleaned from financial media (57 percent versus
28 percent of females).
The most common source of financial education for both sexes came from members of their immediate families.
❚ How women view money: Women, in gen- eral, viewed market risk with more trepidation and were likelier to build wealth by saving. Only 1 percent said they owned bitcoin, a signal they viewed the cryptocurrency the way Superman viewed Kryptonite as a danger.
In a sign of their higher risk aversion,
90 percent of female Millennials said they held cash assets, such as money market funds or certificates of deposit (CDs). While these savings vehicles guarantee you’ll get your money back, the returns are slight. The average nationwide money market account yields just 0.18 percent, and a one-year CD pays 2.21 percent in interest, according to Bankrate.com. Those modest returns compare with a 4 percent gain for the broad market this year and a nearly 20 percent gain in 2017.
A more aggressive investment strategy could explain why Millennial men between 21 and 35 have saved an average of $101,500 for retirement, or
34 percent more than the
$66,700 set aside by their female peers.
Less than half of female respondents (46 percent) said they were socking away 6 percent or more of their salaries, which means more than half are not taking advantage of the full employer-matching contribution. In general, employers match up to
6 percent of worker wages in 401(k) plans. In contrast, nearly six of 10 Millennial males (57 percent) saved 6 percent or more of their pay in these taxsheltered retirement accounts.
❚ Relationship between risk and return: Young people taking too little risk, however, could be making a mistake. Investing in stocks over long periods is a great wealth-building tool, and Millennials have time on their side. The more years the money is working in the market, the more investors can take advantage of gains building on earlier gains.
“For members of the younger generation, risk can be healthy,” Ramassini explains. “People’s appetite for risk is often not on par with how much risk they can actually handle.” Ramassini urges Millennials to boost their financial knowledge to better determine if they are taking too little or too much risk.
Female Millennials — even though their parents starting talking with them about managing money at an earlier age than parents of male Millennials (age
11.6 for females and 12.7 for males) — were less likely than their male cohorts to express confidence in their moneymanagement skills.
Only one-third (32 percent) of female Millennials said they “feel in complete control” of their financial well-being, versus 43 percent of males. Similarly, only a quarter (26 percent) of women said they were “confident” they are saving enough for the future, compared with 40 percent of males. And only one in five (19 percent) women said they have a “solid understanding of how to successfully invest” their money, versus
36 percent of males.