According to a new Bankrate.com report, real estate is Americans’ favorite long-term investment. When polled on the “best way to invest money not needed for more than 10 years,” 28 percent of US adults chose real estate, 23 percent picked cash investments, 17 percent sided with the stock market, 15 percent preferred gold/other precious metals, and 4 percent said bonds. In the last five years, the stock market has not placed higher than third, even though the S&P 500 has risen 50 percent (if you include dividends, it's even more), and this is the third consecutive summer in which real estate took the top spot. Mark Hamrick, Bankrate.com’s senior economic analyst explains, “The preferences for cash and real estate indicate that too many people are leaving money on the virtual table by failing to be sufficiently exposed to the stock market, where higher long-term returns are found.”
Men More Likely to Ask for Financial Advice Than Women
When it comes to needing help with their finances, men are more willing than women to ask for help, a study by Country Financial found. The study, which found that nearly 20 percent of all respondents never sought any financial advice at all, found that 23.6 of females but only 15.2 percent of men had never asked for financial help. Men also are more likely than women to ask for help with retirement planning, taxes, insurance, estate planning, debt management and non-retirement investments. The reason, according to Leisa Peterson, Certified Financial Planner and Life Coach at WealthClinic, is that women don't tend to need as much advice as men. "Their relationship with money is actually really similar to their relationship with other people," she told Moneytips.com.
Millennials (Perhaps Rightfully So) Want to Invest Internationally
Should you invest in the U.S. stock market or look for opportunities abroad? It depends which investors you ask. Millennials are overwhelmingly open to international investments compared to baby boomers, according to a new study from The Dreyfus Corporation. Only 59 percent of investors aged 55 or older expressed interest in international investments, while 90 percent of millennials did. The younger generation might be on to something. In Deutsche Bank's update to its "10 Investment Themes of 2017," Christian Nolting, CIO of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, said they expect Europe and emerging markets to perform well heading toward 2018.
