It seems that the millennials are going to inherit a lot more from their baby boomer parents than just some tie-dyes, Steely Dan LPs, and Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comic books. To the tune of $30 trillion, according to Federated. But will millennials invest that wealth? Wall Street is worried, so they are taking action by creating cartoon-like ads to draw millennials in.
Millennials. What a bunch of new-age hippies, am I right? Well, maybe we shouldn’t categorize them so quickly. Much has been written about the millennial generation, those people born between 1980 and 2000. But besides their work ethic, it’s wise to consider how their thought process could impact the market.
One thing that some believe is different about millennials is that they do not just get financial advice from professionals. They also get advice from friends, social media and online gurus.
This is seen as a problem for Wall Street firms who are in the business of selling financial advice and getting people to use their services to invest. Since estimates speculate that millennials will inherit $30 Trillion from their parents and grandparents, it is paramount for Wall Street to attract the attention of these young heirs.
As Bloomberg reports in an article titled “Wall Street Has Its Eyes on Millennials $30 Trillion Inheritance,” Wall Street has taken an unusual strategy to attract the attention of millennials, using animation and cartoon like graphics.
Click over to read the original article and see some examples of the cartoon graphics Wall Street firms are using.
One takeaway: if you are planning on leaving a millennial a large inheritance, it might be a good idea to have an estate plan that takes the choice of investing away from them and giving it to a professional.
A trust, for example, could be used instead of leaving the inheritance outright with a professional trustee to help protect the inheritance from and for your millennial loved ones.
If Wall Street is concerned that millennials will not invest their inheritance prudently, perhaps it would be wise for you to be concerned as well.
Reference: Bloomberg (March 3, 2015) “Wall Street Has Its Eyes on Millennials $30 Trillion Inheritance”
