The majority of young people have no plan in place to achieve their financial goals, according to a recent survey by iQuantifi, a virtual financial advising company catering to Millennials and young families.
Millennials, defined in the survey as people between the ages of 21 and 34, do have financial goals, whether or not they have a plan to make them into reality. Only 20% of those surveyed said they had a plan to for reaching financial goals—even though 72% did report having certain financial objectives in mind.
The challenges reported by these young folks include not making a high enough income (56%), keeping their spending within a budget (41%), making a budget in the first place (28%), handling debt (27%) and confusion over investing their money (26%).
Online advice trumps in-person talks
When it comes to asking for help making those financial plans, Millennials said they were more likely to reach out to a family member or friend than to seek out a professional. Only 29% of those surveyed said they’d gone to a financial professional for advice, while 71% had gotten advice from family, and 45% had consulted friends about money matters.
Seventy-six percent of respondents said they were likely to search for financial advice online. Free apps or online tools are popular among Millennials, and only 17% of them said they felt talking face-to-face with another person was necessary in order to get advice with which they felt comfortable.
Savings and other goals
Although the perception of young people may be that they aren’t thinking about their futures, over half of them said that isn’t true at all. Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents said that building up their savings accounts was one of their priorities for the coming year. Forty-three percent said that when it comes to making their financial goals into reality, they would “do whatever it takes.”
Those goals include putting away a healthy nest egg for retirement (64%), saving up for a vacation (68%), purchasing a new car (66%), paying off credit card debt (63%) and putting money away to buy a home (60%).
“Millennials recognize that setting financial goals is important, but they’re grasping for ways to reach those goals,” explained Tom White, CEO and co-founder of iQuantifi. He said there is a “tremendous opportunity” for financial institutions to attract millennial-age customers by offering their financial planning services online.
The survey was conducted online in February 2015 and included responses from 500 adults between the ages of 21 and 35.