Millennials' financial skills stereotype challenged after new findings

The research conducted by a leading Australian long-term investing and wealth management platform, Pearler, consisted of a survey into 1,946 respondents of its investor demographic, with respondents being made up of 51 per cent women, and 66 per cent of respondents under the age of 35.

One of the key results from Pearler’s survey revealed that the millennial stereotype of having poor financial skills and lack of frugality with money was challenged, showing that 13 per cent of respondents earned less than $45,000, yet still found ways to invest, with a further 44 per cent owning property while still investing on the side.

Over half of investors on the platform remained undiscouraged in their investment strategies, indicating a shift in long-term investment thinking and an increased focus on financial freedom. despite the Australian market seeing its worst downturn since March 2020.

The platform’s research revealed that 61.4 per cent of its users do not believe that current market volatility has affected their investment strategies, with an additional 31.2 per cent stating their strategies were only “somewhat affected”.

Nick Nicolaides, co-founder of Pearler, stated the platform “promotes a long-term mindset in a market dominated by gamified trading,” and that the portfolio concentration, savings rates, and screen time with the app by investors are all “signals of how healthy their relationship is with money.”

“Our latest research shows that even though this market volatility may have forced speculative investors to sell-out or stop investing, our users, who are predominantly young people and over half women, are sticking to their long-term investment strategy. And this is an excellent sign,” Mr Nicolaides said.

Further findings from the survey revealed; 92 per cent planned on holding their investments for five or more years, and 40 per cent for more than 20 years; 80 per cent were engaged in investing activities at least once a week, with 88 per cent engaging in blogs, books or podcasts to help them make decisions, indicating high levels of discipline and engagement from the young investor base and; 55 per cent of investment made their first investments in the last 12 months, and almost 80 per cent invest more every month.

Mr Nicolaides continued by stating that the data was collected “during the worst week of the current market downturn,” and further commented on the wealth industry not “adapting fast enough to younger generations’ appetite to self-educate.”

“There is still with too much jargon, restrictive media paywalls and prohibitive costs for advice. So, the younger generations are learning from one another by sharing amongst friends, colleagues, and online communities.”