The Great Retirement
Introduction
Yahoo Finance and Ipsos collaborated on a survey1 last week that looked at the role of investments in holiday gift-giving. The population surveyed was a nationally-representative sample of nearly 1,100 Americans. One of the key findings was that approximately 70% of Americans would be happy to receive a financial product as a holiday gift, while 43% would be even more enthusiastic about such a gift.2 Of those respondents interested in receiving an investment-related product for Christmas, the majority cited two reasons for their desire: saving for the future and building wealth.
Source: Yahoo Finance/Ipsos Poll, November 2023
Notes: (1) Responses add up to more than 100% because respondents could select multiple reasons. (2) Only respondents who said they would be “happy” or “very happy” to receive a financial product for Christmas responded to this question (i.e., 68% of the total sample).
While these general findings are compelling on their own, there are also interesting differences by generational cohort and household income (HHI). Across generations, we see differences in the desire for financial products as a Christmas gift. Specifically, Baby Boomers are the most positive, while Gen Z is the least (preferring a gift card over an investment product). These findings seem to paint a clear picture that as Americans get older, they are more interested in receiving investment products—likely because the goals of saving and building wealth (the two most-cited reasons for wanting such a gift) are more important and relevant to individuals as they get older.
Source: Yahoo Finance/Ipsos Poll, November 2023
Note: (1) Results show percent of respondents within each generational cohort who would be “happy” or “very happy” to receive an investment-related product as a Christmas gift.
Household income (HHI) also has a significant effect on an individual’s desire to receive a financial product for Christmas. The group that seems most interested are those with $100,000 or more in annual HHI, while the group that is least interested have HHI’s less than $50,000. This suggests that interest in such products as gifts is at least partially driven by access to additional monetary resources—those with lower incomes likely want different forms of cash (those that could be used more generally), live paycheck-to-paycheck and need additional income now (vs. in the future), or want to reach a more financially secure place before engaging in investment activities. It’s also possible that those who spend most of their income on necessities would like to be “forced” to enjoy non-discretionary spending (or non-utilitarian products).
Source: Yahoo Finance/Ipsos Poll, November 2023
Note: (1) Results show percent of respondents within each household income (HHI) bucket who would be “happy” or “very happy” to receive an investment-related product as a Christmas gift.
Ready to unlock valuable behavioral insights on this topic? Subscribers on the Atlas Point platform enjoy these exclusive benefits:
Behavioral insights regarding the topic covered in this blog
Personalized behavioral analytics tailored to your business – Identify clients most concerned with just a click
Learn effective communication strategies for clients worried about this issue
Not a subscriber yet? Contact us to learn how to access these exclusive behavioral insights.
Subscribers, click here to read the full article and stay ahead of the curve.
