Millennials Are More Worried About Stocks Than Older Generations

(Bloomberg) -- More millennials than members of Generation X or baby boomers think a Wall Street crash is the biggest threat to the U.S. economy.

Fifteen percent of people 23 to 38 years old see a stock market decline as the biggest danger to the economy in the next six months, which compares with 10 percent of Gen Xers and baby boomers, a survey this month by Bankrate.com showed.

While concerns about stocks varies by generation, nearly half of Americans of all ages say national politics pose the biggest risk, according to the poll.

Three times as many people are concerned about politics in Washington sinking the economy than are worried about terrorism, international developments, a decline in the stock market or Federal Reserve policy, according to the survey. More Republicans than Democrats pointed to political woes as the biggest risk.

“We’re living in tumultuous times politically,” Mark Hamrick, Bankrate’s senior economic analyst, said in an interview. “The irony is that one thing that people can agree on is that they agree polarization exist. It’s an acknowledgment of agreeing to disagree.”

--With assistance from Sarah Ponczek.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vildana Hajric in New York at vhajric1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Randall Jensen, Brendan Walsh

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.