Millennials are using the Internet to invest. Disruption is happening all around us and everywhere we look Millennials are driving change. Today, they are taking advantage of technology to help them make investment decisions. It’s no secret that Millennials are taking advantage of technology and social media in many aspects of their life. So, it’s really not surprising that Millennials now rely on social media, various websites and mobile apps to research investments they are considering.
Oh, The Times They Are Changing
The days of discussing investment strategies while watching a baseball game are over. Today’s investors are grabbing their smartphone or their tablet before investing in that mutual fund or ETF. These days Millennials have all they need, just a click away. The Wall Street Journal reports that more than 30 percent of Millennials surveyed told them they are more loyal to brands using current technology. Fortunately, current technology can be used in any number of ways to give Millennials confidence in the investment decisions they make.
New Investing Tools Get Put To Use
Tip’d Off is one of the most popular investing tools being used today. Many would consider Tip’d Off to be a niche social media network for investors. The website itself tells us, “Tip’d Off is a site that was developed specifically to educate Millennials and those unfamiliar or curious about investing in the stock market.” The social investing network brings people together to help each other make investment decisions. Experts and novices alike come together on the site and share tips, portfolios and actual trades. Tip’s Off also has a feature that allows investors to create a paper trading account and simulate real trades with imaginary money. This is a site that allows new investors to learn about investment techniques and strategies while using a social networking platform, something they are quite comfortable using.
Millennials Are Bullish About Investments
Reports indicate Millennials are more bullish about investing for the future than their parents. This leads to many Millennials spending more time reviewing investments, up to seven hours a month compared to the two hours a month spent by Baby Boomers. This could be a way for Millennials to attempt to avoid some of the bad experiences their parents had. This may also by why Millennials are reported to be putting away up to 18 percent of their income for investment purposes compared to the 11 percent put away by Boomers.
Online Tools Can Provide Greater Control
E-Trade tells us people under the age of 35 are likely to take advantage of technology to invest and to monitor their investments. No doubt this is because Millennials are already so comfortable using technology in everything else they do. It’s clear that employing these tools provides a different level of control. Being able to make educated decisions instantly, reviewing one’s portfolio with the click of a mouse or getting valuable data in your Inbox before that quarterly report is even printed, provides a whole new level of control to today’s investors.
So many online tools to help Millennials manage their investments now exist. All the available technology can be overwhelming. Even so, with an appropriate amount of research, Millennials are finding technology and social platforms they are comfortable with. And they’re using those tools to make money investing.
Startups Are Jumping On The Bandwagon
Several of the top financial and investing startups include:
- Wealthfront: Says it’s a wealth management system touting low fees and the development of a personalized asset allocation based on your risk score and tax status.
- FutureAdvisor: Says it manages your investments holistically, to help ensure each account’s benefits.
- SigFig: Says it works with investors to build an intelligent, tax-efficient, diversified portfolio for a fraction of the cost of traditional advisors..
- LearnVest: Says “We want to help real people get a plan for their money, simply and affordably.”
- Acorns: Acorns specifically targets Millennials who might not have a lot of additional cash to invest. It’s platform allows you to take spare change automatically from everyday purchases and put it into a diversified portfolio.
With all this technology just a click away, it's pretty obvious why Millennials are taking advantage of this technology and social media to turn them into expert investors.
What digital tools do you use to help you invest? Leave a comment below
This post originally appeared at socialmediatoday.com
