‘You have to think long-term’: Young people should aim to avoid these 3 common money mistakes, say financial experts

A number of young people are not investing, with 24% preferring to keep their money in cash and 42% not saving or investing at all, according to a recent survey from CNBC and Generation Lab of 1,093 Americans ages 18 to 34.

The young ages of the respondents might explain the 42% of who aren’t saving or investing at all. Many of them are Gen Z — born between 1997 and 2012 — and are still in school or recently graduated, meaning that it could be years before the youngest of the cohort joins the workforce and starts saving. And those who are already in the workforce may still be finding their footing.

As for the 24% of young people who prefer to keep their money in cash, that hesitancy to invest might be because “a lot of people feel very financially vulnerable,” says Kamila Elliott, a certified financial planner and co-founder and CEO of Collective Wealth Partners. With the prices of essentials like housing and food rising, people are anxious to invest their money and lose immediate access to it, she says.

If you’re worried about accessing your cash, she suggests building up at least six months of emergency savings to quell those fears. However, once that’s done, it’s a good idea to think about investing.

“It’s really necessary to be participating in the market to be able to achieve your investment or asset goals,” Elliot says. “That’s one thing we talk about with young people: You have to think long term.”

Here are three mistakes certified financial planners warn young people to avoid.

Once you’re comfortable with your cash reserve, consider investing, says Douglas Boneparth, CFP and founder of Bone Fide Wealth. It’s difficult to “save your way to your long-term financial goals,” he says.

In fact, Boneparth calls investing “the key to growing wealth.”

For example, if you made an initial investment of $1,000 today at a 7% annual return, and deposited $100 dollars a month, your total would grow to over $19,000 over 10 years, and over $130,000 in 30 years.

An easy way to get started investing for retirement is through an employer-sponsored 401(K) plan, which allows you to contribute pre-tax dollars. Many companies also offer matching contributions up to a certain percentage of your salary.

Another option is a Roth individual retirement account. With a Roth IRA, all of your contributions are taxed upfront, so your withdrawals are tax-free in retirement. If you’re worried you might need cash soon, you’re always able to take out the money you’ve deposited, but generally can’t withdraw any of your earnings before age 59½ without penalty.

Of the 1,093 young Americans surveyed, 24% said they prefer to invest their money in individual stocks, compared with bonds, exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrencies.

It makes sense that younger investors might prefer to invest in individual stocks, especially with the outsized performance of the “Magnificent 7” — Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — in recent years, Elliott says.

However, choosing to invest in a limited number of stocks can be risky because your portfolio is dependent on the performance of just those companies. Even if you choose to invest in one of the Magnificent 7, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll continue to outperform.

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Instead, Elliott and Boneparth suggest diversifying your portfolio with bonds or exchange-traded funds. An ETF that tracks the S&P 500, for example, is a low-cost way to gain exposure to hundreds of large companies, including Apple and Alphabet.

By diversifying your portfolio, you’ll worry less about how your individual stocks are doing and can “be more consistent and disciplined,” says Boneparth.

Short-term thinking could lead you to make hasty changes to your portfolio based on recent behavior in the market. Don’t let the market dictate your decisions, but make changes if your financial goals shift, Elliott says.

Instead of constantly monitoring your investments, let them rest. Invest, then forget, says Elliott.

“I think the act of looking at it and looking at the volatility makes people nervous, right?” she says. “People don’t like seeing money go up and down. If you stop looking at it constantly, it helps temper the human desire to make a change.”

You’re in control of your financial goals, Boneparth says, which means your consistency and discipline, no matter which investment tools you choose, can produce good long-term results.

“Don’t think about now,” Elliott says. “Think about 30 years from now, when you’re looking at returns.”

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