Millennials and their money have been getting a lot of attention lately. The online ticketing service Eventbrite recently surveyed the age group and found that most prefer spending money on experiences rather than material goods. Fidelity released a survey of 152 adults in October that showed 40 percent of millennials worry about money at least once a week. And in June, Wells Fargo released its own study of 1,639 millennials, which revealed that millennial women face more debt and lower income levels than their male peers. Women were also more likely to say they were afraid to invest in the stock market.
The financial experts tasked with explaining these results often point to the Great Recession, which was looming in the background as millennials started their careers. That meant they often saw and felt first-hand how difficult it can be to land a full-time job, build a nest egg and achieve other goals like buying a first home. In fact, the Pew Research Center reported in September that young adults are increasingly delaying marriage (or putting it off altogether), partly because of the challenging economy. (Women say they want partners who have steady jobs, Pew found, and those are harder to come by now.)
Now, another survey of 2,000 adults from TradeKing Advisors, conducted in September by Harris Poll, peels back another layer on this complicated generation. The survey found that three in four millennials say the “prospect of speaking to a financial advisor has stopped them from investing.” In other words, they don’t want to have to talk to anyone about their money, and that’s partly because they seem to fear looking stupid or revealing how little they know about investing.
While millennials seem to suffer the most from this fear, they are certainly not alone. Two in three Gen X investors also said they didn’t invest because they didn’t want to have to speak to an advisor, and 73 percent of parents with children at home said the same. Respondents also mentioned concerns about cost and trust as reasons they were hesitant to invest.
If you find yourself in the same camp as these millennials and are afraid of working with a financial professional because you might then be forced to reveal how little you know about managing money, here is a tip: Don’t be. In today’s confusing financial world, where you need a dictionary (or at least a Web browser’s search function) to decipher your various options, from annuities to index funds, few people feel like experts. There is no shame in asking for professional advice if you think it will help you.
The TradeKing Advisors survey echoes the findings of a previous survey of 1,000 adults from TIAA-CREF, which found that 65 percent of respondents said they do not want financial advice, largely because they don’t know who to trust, it seems too expensive and they don’t have time to look for the advice. That DIY approach might mean people end up making less-than-ideal financial decisions, like failing to save enough for retirement or being too conservative in their investments.
The trick, though, is in making sure you pick the right professional for you. If you decide to work with a financial advisor, the best one will encourage you to ask all of your questions, including your follow-ups, and won’t make you feel pressure to make decisions quickly or to go with their recommendation without fully understanding the ramifications.
Here are three more tips to keep in mind when you’re looking for a financial professional that’s right for you:
1. Find your niche. If you have any specialized concerns, such as being a young worker just starting out or being an entrepreneur, you can find a financial advisor who has similarlyminded clients. That way, you’ll know that they have plenty of experience handling your type of situation. You can conduct a search at napfa.org, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, or ask your personal network for recommendations.
2. Ask lots of questions. The initial meeting is your chance to make sure your communication styles mesh, that the advisor will help you reach your short- and long-term goals and that you understand his or her overall approach to financial management. If the advisor starts using words you don’t understand without explaining them, take that as a sign she probably isn’t for you.
3. Understand how they get paid. To make sure you’re getting advice that is free of conflicts of interest, you’ll want to make sure to ask if the advisor is fee-only, meaning he or she only gets paid by you and not through commissions, or if the advisor accept commissions for certain types of financial products. You’ll also want to make sure the advisor’s fees fit in with your budget.
Sometimes, the right financial advisor can help get you on a better path with your money, even if taking that first step can be scary.
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Why Millennials Are Scared to Invest originally appeared on usnews.com