Young investors are clueless

Young ‘generation Y’ investors have unrealistic expectations about the level of returns they can expect and don’t know how to invest to meet their high expectations says new research from RaboPlus.

According to the annual survey conducted by RaboPlus, Gen Y respondents said they were expecting to achieve returns of 13.5% per year, down from 14.1% one year ago. Despite those high expectations, Gen Y investors had put 35% of their money into cash, 13.5% in shares and 16% in property.

Baby boomers have dropped their annual return expectations from 11.6% 12 months ago, to 9.1% now. Generation X investors (aged 30 to 44) have trimmed their expectations from 13.2% to 9.5% while retirees expected returns of 9.4%.