Millennials Overestimate Amount Needed to Start Investing

There is a gap between Millennials’ knowledge about investing and their behavior, Twine, a savings an investing app backed by John Hancock, learned in a survey. Although 44% of Millennials have a strong understanding of investing, with that percentage passing a quiz on the topic, 46% are not saving outside of a 401(k) account.

“It’s really promising to see young adults learning about investing and communicating about it with others,” says Uri Pomerantz, CEO of Twine. “The next step is shifting the mindset around investing by starting with small changes in behavior. It doesn’t take a financial adviser or a large sum of money to get started. There are many entryways into investing that can help people grow their wealth and meet their financial goals, regardless of prior knowledge, current net worth or previous money missteps.”

The survey also revealed that 46% of Millennials think you need at least $1,000 to start investing, and 17% think you need $10,000. Twine says there are a variety of services and platforms, including its own, that allow people to start saving with as little as $5 and investing with only $100.

Nearly 80% of Millennials who invest outside of a 401(k) talk to their friends about their finances.

More than twice the number of Millennials indicated they are distracted from their financial goals by spontaneous weekend trips with friends or clothes and jewelry shopping than their Gen X counterparts. Eighteen percent said they would take on an additional job to meet a financial goal, and 23% would work overtime.

Millennials rely on the Internet for information about investing, more so than friends, a robo adviser or a financial app.