E*TRADE Study Reveals Outsized Anxiety among Young Female Investors

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) today announced insights from its signature event focused on female investing trends. The event featured a panel of industry experts discussing recent trends pulled from E*TRADE’s quarterly tracking study:

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(Graphic: Business Wire)

• Young women feel underprepared. More than three out of four young women (76%) say that despite their current income and savings they feel they could be doing better—compared to 69% of the total population.
• Social media magnifies their lack of confidence. Almost seven out of 10 young women (69%) say images of exaggerated wealth on social media and television make them feel less successful, compared to 47% of the total population.
• Financial jargon is a critical barrier. Three out of five young women (60%) say financial jargon hinders their ability to understand how to invest on their own, compared to 51% of the total population.
• Financial worry compromises their health and relationships. More than half of young women say worrying about finances negatively affects their relationships (57%) and their health (51%), compared to 41% and 40% of the total population, respectively.
• They’ll tap into retirement savings to alleviate financial pressure. Almost 60% of young women (59%) said they have taken an early withdrawal from their retirement account, compared to only 38% of the total population.

The Women & Investing event featured thought leaders from Matthews Asia, Virtu Financial, Dress for Success, and E*TRADE, and was moderated by Bloomberg News. More than 120 attendees from across the industry attended the panel at E*TRADE’s Manhattan headquarters to learn about female investing trends and solutions to help young women meet their financial goals.

“It’s important for female investors to take the emotion out of investing, create a long-term investment plan, and really stick with it,” said Teresa Kong, Portfolio Manager at Matthews Asia. “A critical question to ask when crafting that plan is, ‘How much am I willing to lose?’ Is it five percent, ten percent? It’s not the upside, it’s really about knowing the downside—and that is actually what your risk tolerance is. Investors should understand their level of comfortability with this question, which will ultimately help identify their asset allocation.”