Young adults may be overlooking a strong source of financial advice that they have easy access to: their parents.
An online poll from the The National Foundation of Credit Counseling revealed that most young adults reach out to Dad before seeking Mom's advice. Moms shouldn't feel slighted though: 64 percent of respondents said they can get better financial advice than either parent can offer.
"Taken together, only slightly more than one-third of respondents would turn to either parent," said Gail Cunningham, spokesperson for the NFCC, in a press release. "Younger generations may want to reconsider where they seek financial advice, as the data associated with baby boomers from the NFCC's 2014 Financial Literacy Survey (another survey generated by the organization – Ed.) indicates that the 55-64 age range has their financial act together in many areas associated with successful money management."
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The boomers who responded to that survey seem to have a high financial literacy rate, or at least perceive themselves as having one: 64 percent give themselves a grade of A or B relative to their knowledge of personal finance. More than three-quarters (82 percent) pay all their bills on time and have no debts at collection agencies.
More than half (52 percent) carry no credit card debt over from month-to-month, a nice goal for younger millennials who may be saddled with school debt.
Almost no one surveyed (one percent) has made a credit card payment that was less than the minimum in the past twelve months, and only three percent report being worried about paying down credit card debt.
Perhaps most notable in the survey was that 72 percent say they have savings beyond what they originally earmarked for retirement. That's a healthy figure, possibly indicative of the overall financial health of the specific pool of respondents. The two oldest age groups surveyed, 55-64 and those over 65, contribute at least 20 percent of their annual salary to retirement savings.
Given that rate successful retirement planning, younger investors may want to rethink the value of a little parental direction when it comes to their long-term retirement strategy.
The survey was conducted through the NFCC's website Debtadvice.org during the month of April. Questions were answered by 861 respondents.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
