More Than Half of Teens Think Investing Is Too Confusing

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by BusinessWire.

As part of its ongoing efforts to engage the next generation, Fidelity Investments® has released results of the 2022 Teens and Money Study, revealing that while seven-in-ten teens look up to family members as financial role models, only a third (34%) say that their family regularly talks about investing. What’s more, nearly half say investing “feels out of reach” and only one-in-five teens say they’ve started investing. In fact, many teens mistakenly believe that they can’t trade stocks and a wide majority (72%) of teens report no knowledge of trading stocks or electronic fund transfers (EFT), according to the study which examines how young people ages 13-17 approach their finances.

Further, teen girls are less likely to have conversations with family about money and say they aren't as confident on financial topics.

The study found that while only 23% of teens say they feel "confident" about financial topics, that number increases to 32% among those who talk to their parents about investing. To leverage this increase in financial knowledge when teens talk with their parents, Fidelity developed a new conversation guide for families.

“We know that parents help give teens the confidence they crave when it comes to money,” said John Boroff, vice president, Youth Investing at Fidelity Investments. “In fact, teens who have talked to their parents about investing are more likely to have a checking or savings account, talk about investing with friends or teachers, and ultimately start investing. The Fidelity Youth account can help jumpstart these conversations and provide real-world money experience, but it’s critical that parents be ready to have the talk with their teens.”

Source: BusinessWire
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220607005350/en/More-Than-Half-of-Teens-Think-Investing-Is-Too-Confusing-Fidelity-Shares-Resources-to-Help-Parents-Have-“The-Talk”