{"id":9146,"date":"2018-09-06T06:06:38","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T13:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/?p=9146"},"modified":"2022-01-11T17:12:25","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T01:12:25","slug":"financial-crisis-wealthfront-client-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/financial-crisis-wealthfront-client-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"A Decade After the Crash, Wealthfront Clients Are Surprisingly Hopeful for the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millennials came of age during the Great Recession of 2008, a time of economic turmoil, angst, and doomsday headlines blaring bleak futures. Now that a decade has passed, we wanted to check in to understand the impact the financial crisis had on our clients. We surveyed more than 1,000 clients*<\/a> and conducted a number of in-depth interviews to determine how millennials feel about their financial futures.<\/p>\n

While more than one-third (36%) of clients claim the financial crisis changed their career path and slowed their professional growth, the majority (77%) believe their current career is setting them up for long-term success.<\/strong> This is counter to the often-recycled narrative that all millennials are living in their parents\u2019 basements or feeling stalled. Many, in fact, are thriving \u2014 though for some their path to success hasn\u2019t been the most conventional.<\/p>\n

\"Career<\/p>\n

Wealthfront client Anna Krishtal<\/a> is one of those people. Instead of getting a job after graduating in 2008, she earned a master\u2019s degree and traveled abroad, eventually blending her passions of education and travel to become an internship coordinator for international students.<\/p>\n

She says the market crashing pushed her to seek an alternate route. \u201cI actually don\u2019t think I\u2019d be where I am today were it not for the financial crisis,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t think that I would have believed that the life I\u2019m living now was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Anna, many of our clients had to take alternate routes due to the recession, but most of them have one thing in common: rather than let the financial crisis derail their dreams, they actually became more<\/em> ambitious and more future-oriented. They educated themselves and created solutions to their challenges. They redefined success \u2014 for them, it\u2019s less about being wealthy and more about achieving financial security so that they have the flexibility to pursue their passions. But they also understand there are no guarantees in life.<\/p>\n

When we zoomed out on the data about our millennial clients, here are some common themes we found:<\/p>\n

They\u2019re realistic about the future<\/h2>\n

Living through the financial crisis taught the vast majority of clients (71%) to pay more attention to their finances.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI saw that nothing is guaranteed,\u201d explains Anna. \u201cSo as much as I love my job, love the work I do, and am grateful for the income and the lifestyle, I don\u2019t take any of it for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also taught our clients to be on the lookout for the next downturn: 71% of clients worry we\u2019ll experience an economic recession within the next three years.<\/strong> The youngest subset of millennials (ages 18-24) is the least concerned, while the middle subset (ages 25-31) is the most concerned.<\/p>\n

Yet despite their concerns, nearly 2 out of 3 say they\u2019re personally on track to meet their financial goals. <\/strong>In fact, 3 out of 4 clients say they\u2019re still willing to take financial risks.<\/p>\n

\"2\/3<\/p>\n

They\u2019re ready for anything<\/h2>\n

Nearly all (81%) of those surveyed save money in an emergency fund, 71% don\u2019t spend above their means, and 52% wait longer to make big purchases.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wealthfront client Joyce Lee<\/a> is a prime example. In 2009, she graduated in a tough job market and ended up moving home for five years. Eventually, she pivoted from education to pharmaceuticals, and now she and her husband have a house, retirement accounts, and an eight-month emergency fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned to adapt,\u201d she says, \u201cand we learned to put in the work to get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

They\u2019re feeling successful<\/h2>\n

Despite entering a difficult job market, nearly all clients (87%) are proud of what they\u2019ve accomplished so far.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI came out of college and the entire economy was collapsing,\u201d says Wealthfront client Kelly Sherman<\/a>. In the two years following his 2007 graduation, he watched half his coworkers get laid off. But instead of becoming discouraged, he sought ways to continue advancing. \u201cI figured something out that worked for me,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s been an important learning \u2014 no matter the circumstances, it\u2019s still in your hands, and possible, to find those opportunities for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly isn\u2019t the only one with high hopes for the future: 71% of our millennial clients believe they\u2019ll be more successful than their parents.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"87%<\/p>\n

The kids are all right<\/h2>\n

Millennials get a hard time by the media for being the less ambitious generation, but not all of them are crashing with their parents and demanding avocado toast. Many of our clients came of professional age during one of the worst financial periods in modern history, but they\u2019ve shown tremendous resilience. It was a rough start for them, but our data shows that these recession kids have weathered the storm and are confidently working towards a prosperous future.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

We interviewed Wealthfront clients about their experience surviving the financial crisis of 2008 \u2014 how it shaped their professional and personal paths in life, their relationship with money, and their definition of success.<\/p>\n