In our study, a few specific investor goals rise to the top of the list:
‘Having enough savings to last through retirement’ was more likely to be a top goal in the US than in EMEA and APAC. ‘Having money for future healthcare needs’ was less likely to be a top goal in EMEA than in the US and APAC.
It’s important to note that only 51% of investors confidently believe that they will have enough savings to last through retirement. Within the outlined list of financial goals (Figure 1), global investors’ ‘confidence in achieving’ levels never reached above a 70%.
Figure 1: Are Investors Confident They Will Achieve Their Top Financial Goals?
A Global and Regional Comparison
|
Top Financial Goals (%) |
Confidence in Achieving (%) |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total |
US |
EMEA |
APAC |
Total |
US |
EMEA |
APAC |
|
Having enough savings to last through my retirement years |
52 |
61 |
46 |
52 |
51 |
49 |
50 |
55 |
Having money for my future healthcare needs |
44 |
45 |
38 |
50 |
52 |
50 |
49 |
57 |
Maintaining my current lifestyle when I retire |
44 |
48 |
43 |
43 |
49 |
48 |
51 |
49 |
Having funds to travel |
36 |
43 |
35 |
33 |
50 |
52 |
50 |
48 |
Building up an emergency savings “account” |
35 |
38 |
30 |
38 |
52 |
53 |
43 |
60 |
Source: State Street Global Advisors, as of December 12, 2022.
The two older generations surveyed — Gen X and Baby Boomers — were more likely to rank ‘Having enough savings to last through retirement years’ as a top goal. Baby Boomers were most likely to rank ‘Having money for future healthcare needs’ as a top goal.
Millennials’ top goals were more likely to span a wider range of choices than Gen X and Baby Boomers.
Figure 2: Are Investors Confident They Will Achieve Their Top Financial Goals?
A Generational Comparison
|
Top Financial Goals (%) |
Confidence in Achieving (%) |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Millennials | Gen X | Boomers | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers | |
Having enough savings to last through my retirement years |
37 |
63 |
79 |
55 |
51 |
49 |
Building up an emergency savings “account” |
35 |
35 |
35 |
57 |
49 |
41 |
Having money for my future healthcare needs |
35 |
44 |
64 |
56 |
46 |
48 |
Being able to choose when I retire |
33 |
40 |
25 |
55 |
40 |
51 |
Being able to take care of family members |
33 |
33 |
35 |
61 |
55 |
48 |
Source: State Street Global Advisors, as of December 12, 2022.
Only 40% of investors around the globe have ETFs in their investment portfolios. Instead, investors tend to lean more toward stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and cash.
Taking a more granular look, ETFs are more popular among EMEA’s Gen X population in comparison to the other two regions. And ETFs are more popular among US Baby Boomers versus Baby Boomers in the other two regions.
Figure 4: The Make Up of Investors’ Financial Portfolios
A Generational Comparison by Region
For investors who do own ETFs, nearly three-quarters think that these core building blocks have improved the overall performance of their portfolio — and more than two-thirds say that ETFs have made them better investors.
Despite the explosive growth of the ETF industry over the last three decades, the global ETF industry still has a long runway for adoption, as just 40% of investors around the world say they own an ETF in their portfolio. This is considerably lower than investors’ ownership of stocks (77%), mutual funds (56%), and bonds (49%).
Now, with $8.8 trillion in global assets under management,1 ETFs provide a highly liquid, cost-effective, and transparent way to invest in the market. And with more than 9,500 ETFs available globally,2 investors can gain exposure to a wide variety of market segments to achieve their financial goals with more confidence.
State Street Global Advisors, in partnership with Prodege and A2B, conducted a study surveying more than 1,000 individual investors. Read more about the details.