Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. “Elder Financial Care” provides insights into the future dynamics of periodic vs. subscription. This concept test provokes price discovery by first presenting two separately priced options with distinct features and then a blended option with ambiguity in payment mechanisms. Segmentation is by desired scope of advice among older, affluent investors who are shopping for advice.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. “Home Conversion Mortgage” aka Reverse Mortgage explores awareness and receptivity to using mortgages for aging in place, employing a disguised name to avoid pre-conceived notions about reverse mortgages.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This Explore Qualitative™ Report examines how investors want to access and pay for various pieces of financial advice and service. It is an Explore Concept Test, meaning it reveals consumer reactions to a product or service that could be commercialized soon or is newly in-market. The series of which this report is part, Shopping for Advice on Aging Gracefully, explores the increase in older consumers moving money, changing needs of an aging population, and industry-level questions about pricing of advice and high levels of cash. The demographic for this series is investors ages 53-70 with >$500K investable assets (>$250K outside workplace) who are actively involved in money movement, segmented by Desired Scope and Service Ranges on Inside Advice® Grid. As with all Explore Qualitative™ Reports, the underlying data in this report are consumer comments.

This report explores which financial tasks consumers find difficult, what they are most likely to seek advice on, and where the biggest advice gaps are. For example, 17% of households today find estate planning difficult but do not seek help. Advice gaps such as this represent an opportunity to provide help on a topic for consumers who find it difficult.

Key Findings include:

• Tasks are most difficult for the young. However, difficulty eases with age and assets. Nationally, the #1 most difficult task is “choosing appropriate investments."
  
• Tasks are not difficult in isolation. Most (68%) households who find one task very difficult also find 3+ tasks very difficult. Clustering of difficulties increases with assets.
  
• Seeking help is up, frequently for multiple tasks. The most avid advice-seekers use combinations of financial professionals and online resources that vary by generation.
  
• The biggest advice gaps in dollars are estate planning, “handling market volatility emotionally,” Roth conversion, buy/sell specific securities, balance goals and RMDs.
  
• Being prepared to help on multiple tasks yields a loyalty premium.

This report is an annual look at consumer relationships with stores - who is on the leader board for household penetration, share of wallet, share of assets, and trust. The bottom line - competition for assets continues to intensify. The average number of consumer relationships with firms is 2.7 nationally, and 3.9 for $1M+ households. Additionally, the average share of wallet (SOW) has fallen to a new low of 37%, down from 45% in 2020. 

The trick to maintaining relevancy in the mind of the consumer is to be their "primary store", which is typically driven by being their main source of retirement advice. Customers who receive both advice and service are more likely to use those stores as main source of retirement advice and grant them higher share of wallet. Read this report to see how your firm competes on all these important measures and learn how you can work to be your customers primary store and main source of retirement advice.

This report is our annual review of what customers want from the stores they do business with, how satisfied they are with these stores, and evolving trends in pricing. Wants and Pricing is one of our most highly anticipated reports of the year, and includes the 2023 "Top Performer" firms — those that set the bar across key competitive metrics.
Here are a few highlights:

• Clear and understandable fees is the top want for the mass-market, while being unbiased and putting clients' interests first is the top want for the $3M+ households
• Personal financial advice has become more important over time while satisfaction has remained flat, indicating a possible area for competitive differentiation
• Ameriprise, Edward Jones, Merrill, Morgan Stanley and USAA achieved one or more Hearts & Wallets Top Performer designations in 2023
• Pricing remains a problematic area with many customers not knowing how they pay for saving and investing, especially in workplace models. Flat fees are reportedly becoming more common.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Money Movement 2022 looks at how and why investors are moving money between firms, where they are moving to and from, how much they are moving, and the reasons for making the moves. Our analysis includes rollovers, transfer-of-assets (TOAs), and funding new accounts with new deposits.

The 2024 Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth reports on the current breakdown of household wealth in America. This report is updated annually. As the number of HHs in America climb and investable assets approach $78T, understanding who controls this wealth increases in importance as you refine strategies and target markets. Use this report to size markets, identify target audiences, understand how real estate equity plays a significant role in total wealth, and the importance of providing advice.

The 2023 Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth reports on the current breakdown of household wealth in America. This report is updated annually. Learn who controls the wealth by age and asset ranges through the Portrait Grid™.
Key finding highlights include:

• Nearly 130M households control $69.7T in investable assets, with growth in taxable now faster than retirement.
• Concentration of investable assets is increasing. In 2022, only 12% of total investable assets is controlled by households with <$500K.
• Households age 55+ control $51.4T. Among households with <$5M, Post-Retirees still dwarf all other lifestages in both asset and household terms.

Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Today, nearly two thirds of U.S. households are involved in intergenerational wealth transfer, with an estimated $17.5T changing hands over the next 20 years. Additionally, one in four U.S. households have funded trusts. Obviously there are implications for all financial service firms. This report looks at wealth transfer, family conversations about wealth transfer, who's planning to bequeath and inherit, and the use of trusts. One big takeaway - these topics are no longer just for the wealthy.

COVID-19 has resulted in increased financial actions by consumers. Savings is on the top of the list for many with one in 5 households creating an emergency fund for the first time. This report looks at who is taking action, what they are doing, and the goals for the various segments of savers. Here are a few of the take-aways: Households whose work was affected by the COVID-19 crisis were more likely to have taken actions than households with no work disruption. Gen-X, Millennials and the New Generation have been much more active with financial responses to COVID-19 than the Silents and Boomers. We have classified savers into five segments beyond the traditional age-based categories that combine behavior, attitudes and household finances. Among the findings, "Big Savers" are the most valuable customers today, but "Aspiring Savers - High Potential" are looking to make changes in their financial lives and could be valuable over the long haul. Investment firms have the greatest reach with the Big Savers and banks have it with the Aspiring Savers - High Potential.