Play the stock market, they said. It'll be fun, they said.
But the recent volatility in the market may have some millennials ready to get off the ride—or at least ask it to slow down.
Millennials typically consider themselves cautious investors. Survey data from Legg Mason cited in a recent New York Times' story shows only about one-third of them own stocks, and more than 80% of them consider their investment strategies to be "conservative."
Despite all that, millennials' expectations may be a little too bullish.
AMG, an asset management company, found the typical millennial investor expects an average annual return of 13.7% compared to the 7.7% return expected by Baby Boomers, the Times' story says. That bullishness could only have grown after the market began this year with its best January in three decades.
All of which left many of them unprepared for a 1,800-point plunge over a two-day period earlier this month that hemorrhaged thousands from their portfolios.
