Millennials, Gen Z embrace investing earlier than older gen

Financial security and family support are their top goals in investing.

Millennials begin their investment journey up to a decade earlier than older generations, a study by HSBC found.

Gen Z start investing at 23 years old on average, and Millennials at 27 years old, according to HSBC’s Affluent Investor Snapshot 2024 report. In contrast, Gen X and Baby Boomers said that they began investing at 31 years old and 33 years ol on average, respectively.

The report, conducted by Intuit Research, surveyed 11,230 individuals aged 25-69 across 11 markets in March 2024. Respondents possess investable assets ranging from US$100,000 to US$2m.

Millennials and Gen Z dedicated a larger portion of their income towards investing at 27% of their income versus Baby Boomers’ allotting 22% of their income, according to HSBC’s Affluent Investor Snapshot 2024 report.

Millennials in the survey notably put over half or 56% of their cash in investments. They also have the highest perceived amount needed to start investing, at $2,899, whilst Gen Z have the lowest at just $1,555.

Millennials and Gen Z also showed intent to own alternative investments, with strong interest in adding private market funds and hedge funds to their portfolios over the next 3 years, HSBC said. 

“The fact that young investors are looking more closely at alternative assets serves as another tailwind for the asset class, as product and platform innovations improve accessibility for a wider range of investors, especially to private markets,” said Jeffrey Yap, head of investments and wealth solutions, Southeast Asia, HSBC Global Private Banking and Wealth.

Financial security, family support are top goals
Millennials top financial goals include financial security via wealth, with 42% of respondents saying this.

Other goals of millennials are education savings for children (40%) and retirement planning (39%).

Almost 1 in 2 (47%) of Gen Z– those aged 25-27– picked being able to support their family financially as their top priority for investing. 

Other financial goals are financial security (43%), having an additional income stream (41%), planning for retirement (36%), and investing in properties (36%).