NEW YORK–While it may seem difficult to believe given the deposit inflows of the past year, not every government stimulus dollar went into savings and checking accounts.
In fact, almost a third of investors who received government stimulus money during the pandemic invested some of it, according to a new CNBC/Momentive Invest in You survey.
Not surprisingly, younger and newer investors were more likely to put their stimulus money into assets, the analysis found.
Of those aged 18 to 34 years old, 49% did so —15% invested in individual stocks, 11% purchased cryptocurrency, 9% invested in mutual funds and 8% bought exchange-traded funds, CNBC reported.
According to the report, more than a quarter of investors polled started investing within the last 18 months, and 73% began in 2019 or earlier. Momentive surveyed 5,523 U.S. adults between Aug. 4 and Aug. 9, 2021; of those, 45% are investors.
The new investors, said CNBC, are more diverse, younger, use technology to make trades and turn to social media to research investing ideas, the survey found.
Additional Findings
Among the other findings in the survey, according to CNBC:
- Americans are split on where they expect the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) to be at the end of 2021 (22% say higher than where it is now, 20% say about equal to where it is now, 20% say lower to where it is now, 32% are not sure.)
- More Republicans than independents and Democrats believe the DJIA will be lower than where it is now (31% of Republicans, 15% of Independents, 12% of Democrats).
- More men than women believe the DJIA will be better than where it is now (29% of white men, 15% of white women, 26% of Black men, 15% of Black women, 28% of Hispanic men, 14% of Hispanic women).
- White Americans believe the DJIA will be lower than it is now (24% of whites, 10% of Blacks, 12% of Hispanics, 12% of Asians).
Cryptocurrency
One in 10 people in the U.S. (11%) currently invest in cryptocurrency, the CNBC survey found.
- More men than women invest in cryptocurrency (16% vs 7%). This is true for all racial/ethnic groups.
- More young and middle aged investors invest in cryptocurrency than older investors (15% of 18-34, 11% of 35-64, 4% of 65+).
- Overall, only 3% of investors began to invest because they were encouraged by the growth in cryptocurrency.
- Those who invest in cryptocurrency say they do so because of the potential for long-term growth (60%), the potential for high growth in a short period (44%), the ease of making their own trades (33%), and the excitement of investing (26%). Exactly half of cryptocurrency investors started investing within the last year, and most commonly use a mobile app (65%) or a self service website (23%) to make their trades, CNBC reported.
Account Ownership
While many Americans have diverse financial portfolios, CNBC said it found others do not own more than one financial account. This trend is particularly true when comparing gender, race/ethnicity, and age, the analysis added.
- Seven in 10 (70%) Americans own a traditional bank checking account. This is the most common financial account that men and women of all races/ethnicities hold. Racial differences, however, persist. While more than three-quarters (78%) of white men have a traditional bank account, only half (51%) of Black women do (71% of white women, 63% of black men, 67% of Hispanic men, 64% of Hispanic women).
- Fewer young Americans own a traditional bank account than older Americans (57% of 18-34, 73% of 35-64, 81% of 65+).
- Half (50%) of Americans own a retirement account. Almost twice (63%) as many white men own a retirement account than Black women (32%). (51% of white women, 33% of Black men 38% of Hispanic men, 39% of Hispanic women).
- Fewer young Americans own a retirement account than older Americans (29% of 18-34, 58% of 35-64, 59% of 65+).
- Men are more likely to own any type of financial account than women, except for a peer-to-peer payment app.
- Seven in 10 (70%) of the general public has some type of debt or outstanding loan.