- We can inherit our investment attitudes from our families
- But younger investors are making very different decisions to their parents
At the start of the year, a reader wrote into the IC Portfolio Clinic and alluded to an episode from years gone by. His investment approach was cautious, with a large proportion of his portfolio held in cash and bonds. The reasoning was entirely understandable: his father had lost large sums of money in the dotcom crash, leaving the reader wary when it came to his own investments.
It is not surprising that a difficult family experience would have an impact on investment decisions in future. Research shows that our parents’ financial attitudes, experiences and habits can all shape how we invest; today’s young investors report that their parents are a key (and trusted) source of investment advice.