Younger investors, particularly men, are open to receiving their financial advice from artificial intelligence, according to new research from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.
The investor education arm of the U.S. industry self-regulatory organization published the results of the sixth wave of its “national financial capability study,” which collects data every three years with over 25,000 adults in the U.S. on their financial attitudes, behaviours and knowledge.
The latest edition of the long-running study, which was carried out from June to October last year, included a new question on the use of AI for providing financial advice. It found that, overall, 20% of respondents said that they would want advice from AI, 59% said no, and another 21% were unsure.
However, the results also varied by age and gender.
For instance, the study found that 25% of men are interested in AI advice, compared to just 14% of women.
Younger investors were also much more open to the idea — with 30% of people aged 18 to 34 interested in AI advice, compared with just 8% of those aged 55 and above. In the 35 to 54 age bracket, 23% said that they are interested in advice from an AI.
Alongside its findings on the appetite for AI-powered advice, the study also found that U.S. households are increasingly struggling financially.
“Following a 12-year period of sustained improvements in many of the key areas of financial capability included in the [study] — from the Great Recession of 2009 through the Covid pandemic — the latest findings reveal an overall pattern of decline in U.S. adults’ ability to make ends meet and save for emergencies,” it reported.
In particular, the study noted that, while incomes are holding up, rising costs are putting more strain on household budgets.
These pressures are being felt most acutely in the middle cohorts of various demographic groups — segmented by age, income, and education —which are increasingly sharing the financial struggles of households that are at the lower end of these categories, the report noted.
This so-called “struggle of the middle” is particularly apparent in “measures of difficulty making ends meet, the impact of higher food costs, setting aside emergency funds and engaging in expensive credit card practices,” it reported.
“The 2024 National Financial Capability Study reveals a concerning shift in Americans’ financial resilience. After more than a decade of improvements, we’re seeing many households — particularly in middle-income brackets — struggling financially despite stable incomes,” said Gerri Walsh, president of the FINRA Foundation, in a release.
“This ‘struggle of the middle’ signals that rising costs are creating financial strain across a broader segment of the population,” she added.