National Survey Report
Insights from Investors Living on LMI
We conducted a survey of more than 2,750 respondents to learn more about how and why people with LMI invest.
The report, Understanding Today’s Retail Investor: Examining the Behaviors, Motivations, and Challenges of New Investors Living on Low and Moderate Incomes, is based on the learnings from the survey, with particular focus on newer investors who began investing after January 2020.
This report, with findings featured in an exclusive Wall Street Journal story, is a key component of The Investor Diaries initiative and examines how these investors differ from more tenured counterparts and from non-investors, offering critical insights for those designing products, platforms, and policies that seek to better meet the needs of this new cohort of investors.
A deeper look into how, why, and for whom investing is changing.
Over half of people from households living on low and moderate income (LMI) are now directly participating in retail markets—marking a historic shift in who is building wealth through investing. Commonwealth’s National Perceptions and Habits Survey draws from over 2,750 individuals to explore the rise of direct investing and the behaviors, motivations, and challenges shaping this growing investor base.
KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:
Over 54% of people from households living on low-to-moderate-incomes (LMI) are investing in retail markets
Of these direct investors living on LMI, over half have been investing for five years or less.
The most common challenge for newer investors is uncertainty about what to invest in.
Explore the full report to see how the face of investing is changing, what it means for the future of financial inclusion, and the opportunities that exist for the investing industry to support this investor base.
A NATIONAL RESEARCH INITIATIVE PROVIDES INSIGHTS INTO NEW INVESTORS
The Investor Diaries is designed to understand the millions of new investors who entered retail market investing since 2020, particularly those earning low to moderate incomes (LMI).
This research was possible by the generous support of The BlackRock Foundation.
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