A new survey conducted by the BlackRock Foundation and Commonwealth found that 54% of Americans living on low-to-moderate incomes, between $30,000 and $80,000 a year, are putting some of their money in the stock market.

Wall Street

A recent survey by the BlackRock Foundation and Commonwealth reveals that 54% of Americans earning between $30,000 and $80,000 annually now have investment accounts, marking the first time a majority of lower-income earners are participating in the stock market. More than half of these investors began investing within the past five years, a shift attributed in part to the rise of investment apps and reduced barriers to entry.

The report highlights that these new investors are primarily motivated by long-term financial goals such as retirement, saving for their children, or purchasing a home. Despite this positive trend, many still face challenges, particularly in knowing what to invest in, suggesting a need for improved investor education and support to help sustain their financial growth.

More working-class Americans investing in the stock market

A new report shows that more working class Americans are investing in the stock market. A survey conducted by the BlackRock Foundation and Commonwealth found that 54% of Americans living on low to modern income, so between $30,000 and $80,000 a year, are putting some of their money in Wall Street. It's the first time a majority of lower earners have an investment account. More than half of those people began investing over the past five years. For more on this, Claire Chamberlain and Timothy Flacco join me now here in studio. Claire is the president of the BlackRock Foundation, which works with organizations aiming to elevate low to moderate income households. Timothy is the CEO of Commonwealth, an organization creating systemic change in the financial system. Thank you both so much for being here. And Claire, I want to ask you first, what do you think is contributing to this behavior change? Do you think the perception of risk has involved? Do you credit investment apps? So first of all, thank you. We're delighted to be here today. At the BlackRock Foundation, as you pointed out, we really focus on creating pathways for more and more Americans to build financial security over time. And it's one of the primary reasons that we decided to partner with Commonwealth to understand this new group of investors who have come into the markets, particularly in the last five years. And certainly technology has played a part in lowering barriers to entry and making investing more accessible. But one of the things that we're particularly excited about is to study what is happening once people enter the markets, what's their experience, what are their motivations, and with a view towards how can we support their long-term financial success. So Timothy, maybe you can pick up on that. What are their goals, financial goals? Yeah, this was something we were just delighted to see in the research, Lindsay. You'll see in the report it ranges from retirement to saving for one's kids to saving perhaps for a down payment on a home. And the common thread seems to be that people are really thinking about the long term, which we know historically is how people have been successful in building wealth through capital markets. So we're very pleased to see that pattern. One thing that was interesting is we found the number one challenge that people reported was that they weren't sure what to invest in. So we think that really is an opportunity to rethink investor education and help people to have the information that they need in order to make investment choices, as Claire said, now that they really are in such record numbers becoming participants in capital markets. It's kind of interesting because we're seeing on the flip side other data, like it's taking longer for people to save up for a down payment on a home. Maybe some younger people are staying with their parents more often. How do you square those juxtapositions? Yeah, I can start us there. I think there are many pathways that we've seen for people, regular people, to build wealth in this country. But some of them, as you noted, are getting more difficult, right? I think many of us know how expensive homes are in some of our more competitive real estate markets. There's increasing talk that maybe education isn't the return for everybody that it once was. Probably not all of us are meant to be entrepreneurs. But it turns out that these days, really, there are very low entry barriers to participate in capital markets. And from our perspective, when 54% of the population is doing something, it's time to listen and to repeat, I think, what Claire has said, ask ourselves what are the opportunities to support this new cohort of folks so that they are successful and they are able to use this pathway to build wealth for themselves and their kids. So to start to answer that question, what do you want to leave people with? Well, you know, we know from history and from results that persistence in investing is what delivers over the long term. Our CEO, Larry Fink, has been quoted as saying, you know, if you were an investor January 1st, 2000, you would have earned a compound annual return of 8% for every single year from 2000 to now. So keeping people invested is a goal. How do you do that? We believe that helping people build emergency savings as an important safety net alongside their investment accounts, we think that's a real opportunity to kind of underscore and lean into. Super interesting conversation. Claire and Timothy, thank you both so much. Thank you.

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