According to E-Trade, 6 out of 10 young investors cite student loan debt as the first or second largest obstacle to saving for retirement. (Photo: Shutterstock)
According to E-Trade's most recent edition of StreetWise, which tracks experienced investors' quarterly activity, not only do six out of 10 young investors cite student loan debt as the first or second largest obstacle to saving for retirement, that percentage has gone up nearly 20 percentage points over the past four years.
In addition, 60 percent of young investors say they've already made an early withdrawal from retirement savings.
The top reason they give for doing so is student loan debt. But they still consider themselves financially savvy, with 80 percent saying they've had “moderate to heavy exposure to personal finance and investing.”
As for college students, they just aren't ready to tackle their finances, with 47 percent saying they don't feel prepared to manage their money, according to new research from EVERFI, sponsored by AIG. That's what they say is their biggest challenge—for the fourth year in a row.
And while 60 percent have already taken out loans to finance those expensive educations, just 65 percent of borrowers are planning to pay off those loans on time and in full.
It appears to be getting worse instead of better, too, with GenZ students doing worse than students in general; Just 49 percent of all students plan to follow a budget, down from 76 percent in 2012, while only 37 percent of GenZ students intend to budget. And while just 60 percent of all students plan to pay their credit card bill on time, down from 85 percent in 2012, GenZers trail there too—at just 47 percent.
It's taking a toll, too. Stress due to student loan debt is weighing people down. It's not as if they know how to deal with it, considering that only 35 percent of respondents reported having ever taken a personal finance course and only 11 percent of GenZ students believe they even have the information they need to repay their college loans—that's compared with 22 percent of students overall.
They do think that if they knew more, or had a plan, they'd do better:
- 58 percent said they could lower their stress level by making a plan to pay off those pesky loans
- 53 percent said lower stress would come if they had a better understanding of loan repayment options
- 50 percent said having a better understanding of the total amount they owe would help
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
