Young Ontarians are savers, not investors

Investing isn’t the number-one financial priority of young Ontarians, reveals OSC research.

While most young Ontarians save (80%), fewer than half (47%) invest. (The study is based on those aged 18 to 36.)

Reasons cited for not investing include:

• having other financial priorities (68%),
• not having enough income or savings (66%),
• not knowing enough about investing (59%) and
• fearing market losses (57%).

Read: What young clients don’t understand

A top alternative financial priority is homeownership, with one-third of young Ontarians already owing a home. More than half of non-homeowners in the study place owning a home in their top-three financial priorities.

Read: Millennials still aren’t investing for the long term

Hiring advisors—or not

Of young Ontarians who do invest, 67% work with a professional, including 50% who work with a financial advisor and 16% with a portfolio manager. Online brokerages are used by 39%.

Read: 35% of millennial Albertans use advisors

Cost of fees (31%) and confidence in their own skills (25%) are the main reasons cited for not using advisors. Some also felt that their portfolios are too small to work with a professional (16%), and some said they simply never considered working with a professional (13%).

For more details, read the full survey.

About the survey: An online survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1,585 Ontarians, 18 to 36, between May 5 and May 12, 2017.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.