Investors in a new poll were bullish about the economy and their household finances, but also worried about losing their income because of investment risk, Nuveen, TIAA's investment manager, reported Tuesday.
A big majority of survey participants said they relied on their financial advisors for help with income planning.
The Harris Poll conducted the online poll in the spring among 1,010 U.S. investors 21 and older with at least $100,000 in investable assets. Participants were primary or shared decision makers for financial decisions for themselves or their family, and were currently working with an advisor.
Fifty-eight percent of investors surveyed had a positive outlook about the economy heading into 2018, similar to their outlook for last year — and a big improvement from the 38% who were positive in 2015.
Two-thirds of investors were upbeat about their household financial situation — in part, perhaps, because of the stock market boom of 2017, according to Nuveen — compared with 54% in 2015.
Millennials in the survey stood out for their favorable outlook: 83% for their household finances and 75% for the 2018 economy in 2018. Three-quarters of these younger investors reported wage growth in the three months prior to the survey.
Bob Doll, Nuveen's chief equity strategist, recently predicted that 2018 would be "less perfect" than last year.
Notwithstanding their optimism, 77% of participants in the new poll opined that the larger economic situation made investing more complex. Eighty percent said they always or sometimes paid attention to investment risk, meaning the risk of losing money.
At the same time, the survey showed that they were less attuned to other risks: inflation (72%), income volatility (69%), interest rate risk (68%) and credit risk (46%).
