(PRNewswire) - Greenlight® Financial Technology, Inc. ("Greenlight"), the fintech company on a mission to shine a light on the world of money for families, today announced Investing for Parents, a new educational investing platform designed for parents. Investing for Parents brings families a better way to invest for their kids' futures with an easy-to-use platform complete with educational resources and the flexibility to use investment earnings for any purpose at any time. This is Greenlight's first product designed exclusively for parents as the company expands its offering to serve the entire family.
Investing is key to building long-term wealth, yet many families don't know how to get started. In a new national survey on the state of investing among families, Greenlight found that 52% of parents don't invest because they lack knowledge and 58% are intimidated by investing. 88% of parents wish they had more investing education earlier in life. Today, more than half of parents (52%) have little to no savings for their children's future.
"It's clear that parents need a better way to save for their kids' futures, especially for life events like college," said Tim Sheehan, co-founder and CEO of Greenlight. "Investing is a powerful way to grow savings and build wealth. Earlier this year, we launched an educational investing platform for kids and teens, and now we're making investing available for parents, too, so families can learn together and build a healthy financial future."
Using the Greenlight app, parents will be able to research stocks and ETFs, create their own investment portfolio with fund recommendations based on their goals and start investing with fractional shares for as little as $1. In-app educational content and research from Morningstar gives parents the resources they need for smart, long-term investing. Greenlight's Investing for Parents also offers families more flexibility than other parental investment accounts to use earnings however and whenever they'd like for their family's future.
Additional survey results show that families lack confidence in investing and struggle to plan for their financial future.
Key insights include:
Parents and teens alike lack knowledge and confidence in investing.
- Parents are no more comfortable than teens when it comes to their investing knowledge: about 55% of each group is confident.
- More than half (58%) of parents and teens are intimidated by investing, regardless of age.
- 88% of parents wish they had more personal finance and investing education earlier in life, and 73% of teens agree.
- More than half of parents (52%) and teens (60%) don't invest because they don't know enough.
Without education, parents and teens prioritize short-term investments over long-term and are losing money.
- Among those who invest, 78% of teens and 51% of parents hold investments for an average of only 6 months or less.
- Both parents (65%) and teen investors (59%) have lost money on a short-term investment.
- The majority of parents (62%) and half of teens (53%) consider investing similar to gambling.
- Nearly half of teen investors (49%) and four out of ten parent investors (41%) have purchased a stock based on a social media influencer's recommendation despite ranking social media as the least trustworthy source for investing advice.
Families feel financially unprepared for the future and it's taking a toll.
- Half of parents (52%) have little to no savings for their children's future; only 13% have enough or more than enough saved.
- Nearly 3 out of 4 parents (71%) worry about supporting their children's future life events, like college education. Half of teens (47%) are equally worried their parents won't be able to contribute.
- Only 28% of teens feel very or extremely confident about their financial future.
- 36% of parents and 26% of teens say their family's financial situation has had a negative impact on their mental health.
Parents want to be good financial role models, but are missing out on opportunities to learn with their family.
- Two-thirds of parents (68%) say they're good financial role models, but only half (49%) of teens agree.
- Only 37% of parents are extremely or very confident in teaching their children about investing.
- 45% of parents and their children say they rarely or never talk about financial planning for the future, and half of teens (49%) say they have not talked about investing with their parents.
- 37% of teens say they aren't learning any financial habits from their parents at all.
Greenlight is committed to empowering families with the resources they need to build healthy financial futures. Today, Greenlight serves 4.5 million parents and kids, helping young people learn critical financial skills like how to earn, save, spend wisely and invest. With the addition of Investing for Parents, Greenlight is enabling parents, too, to learn about the world of investing and plan for their kids' futures. Investing for Parents will be available later this year with Greenlight + Invest and Greenlight Max plans.
Survey Methodology
Survey insights were collected by Greenlight through an online survey fielded by ResearchScape International between September 27 and October 2, 2021, among 2,051 U.S. respondents, of whom 1,013 were parents of 13-20 year olds and 1,038 were teens ages 13-20. Results were weighted to be representative of the overall population of U.S. parents and teens by age, gender, and region.
About Greenlight
Greenlight Financial Technology is the family fintech company on a mission to help parents raise financially-smart kids. Its groundbreaking product, Greenlight, is an all-in-one money management platform purpose-built for families, complete with a debit card and companion app. Parents can automate allowance, manage chores, set flexible spend controls and invest for their kids' futures. Kids and teens learn to earn, save, spend wisely, give and invest with parental approval.
The Greenlight Card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International. Greenlight Investment Advisors, LLC (GIA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor, provides investment advisory services to its clients. Investing involves risk and may include the loss of capital. For more information, please visit: www.greenlight.com.
ATLANTA, Oct. 26, 2021
Contact
Jessica Tenny
Director of Public Relations
jessica.tenny@greenlight.me
