Americans are confident that they are on track to achieve their long-term financial goals, according to the latest Investor Pulse Poll by Morgan Stanley. Many also want a comprehensive financial plan to help them achieve these goals, and professional help to create that plan.
These are among the findings of the latest Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Investor Pulse Poll, which this summer surveyed 1,000 U.S. households with at least $100,000 in investible assets, a third of which had investible assets of $1 million or more. Additional findings were:
• Ninety-one percent of investors believe that they are on track to achieve their long-term financial goals.
o Top long-term goals were saving for retirement (35%), transitioning wealth to the next generation (33%), and paying off a mortgage (32%).
o Eighty-eight percent of Millennials (those between 25 and 35) believe they are on track to reach their long-term goals.
o Millennials’ priorities, after saving for retirement (44%), are paying off a mortgage (42%) and paying for a child/grandchild’s education (35%).
· Those working with a financial professional would like professional help creating a comprehensive plan (51%) and want advice that supplements any information they may receive from online financial planning tools (57%).
• Thirty-one percent of investors overall use a Financial Advisor as their primary financial professional.
• Compared with 2016’s results, slightly fewer investors believe that their portfolios will either remain the same or increase in 2018.
o Fifty-nine percent of Investors are confident that their investment portfolios will stay constant in the next year, with another 32 percent believing they will increase; this compares with 63 percent and 26 percent respectively in 2016’s survey.
o Investors expressed concern about having adequate savings to meet their financial needs.
o Their top concerns include making their money last for their lifetime (67%), maintaining their standard of living for the rest of their life (56%), and being able to pay medical bills (52%).
Looking towards 2018, investors are almost evenly split between those believing it will be a good time to invest (40%), and those who are neutral (45%); only 14% predict next year will be bad for investments.