[September 18, 2019]

E*TRADE Study Reveals Young Investors Starting Earlier Despite Lifestyle Roadblocks

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) today announced results from its most recent wave of StreetWise, the E*TRADE quarterly tracking study of experienced investors. Results show young investors are engaging in the markets earlier than previous generations, yet they struggle to put their financial goals first.

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• Young investors are starting their financial careers relatively early. More than two-thirds of young investors (68%) said they started investing at 24 years old or younger, versus 33% and 31% of Gen X and Boomers, respectively.
• Planning for retirement takes a backseat to lifestyle considerations. Young investors take more time looking for a house (17%), dating (16%), or planning for vacation (15%) than planning for retirement (12%).
• Yet they want to learn more. Almost half of young investors say they would take a Saving for Retirement class (45%) followed by Understanding the Markets and Trading 101, both at 24%.
• Instagram is the top social media platform to learn about finances. Young investors are most likely to use Instagram (40%) to learn about the markets and investing, followed by YouTube (39%) and Facebook (News - Alert) (32%).

"It's encouraging to see young investors jumpstart their financial lives earlier than previous generations," said Mike Loewengart, VP of Investment Strategy at E*TRADE Financial. "That said, it's important to start on the right foot by creating good investing habits at a young age. Gen Z and Millennial investors have the benefit of time on their side. Investing even a small portion of their paycheck today can go a long way in the future."

Mr. Loewengart offered guidance for young investors looking to take control of their retirement planning and long-term investing goals:

• Barriers to a diversified portfolio have never been lower. There are a variety of ETFs, many of which are commission-free, that have notably low expense ratios and offer broad exposure to the market, making it easier to build a diversified portfolio.
• Automatic investing takes out the guesswork. When starting small, automatic investing can help remove the need to make decisions about when and how much to invest and can create consistent investing habits from the start. Automatic investing takes advantage of dollar-cost averaging, which can help mitigate portfolio volatility over the long term.
• An employer match can pack a serious punch. Young investors would be wise to consider taking advantage of their employer's retirement plan match. It's as close to free money as one will ever come in the investing world. Young investors who are already meeting the match may want to review their entire financial picture to see if ramping up contributions is right for them.

E*TRADE aims to enhance the financial independence of traders and investors through a powerful digital offering and professional guidance. To learn more about E*TRADE's trading and investing platforms and tools, visit etrade.com.

For useful trading and investing insights from E*TRADE, follow the company on Twitter (News - Alert), @ETRADE.

About the Survey

This wave of the survey was conducted from July 1 to July 11 of 2019 among an online US sample of 908 self-directed active investors who manage at least $10,000 in an online brokerage account. The survey has a margin of error of ±3.20 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. It was fielded and administered by Dynata. The panel is broken into thirds of active (trade more than once a week), swing (trade less than once a week but more than once a month), and passive (trade less than once a month). The panel is 60% male and 40% female, with an even distribution across online brokerages, geographic regions, and age bands.

Referenced Data

"Young Investor" defined as <30 // "Gen X" defined as age 35-54 //

"Baby Boomer" defined as age 55+

About E*TRADE Financial and Important Notices

The information provided herein is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

You can buy and sell ETFs available through the E*TRADE Commission-Free ETF Program without paying brokerage commissions. To discourage short-term trading, E*TRADE may charge a short-term trading fee on sales of participating ETFs held less than 30 days.

Automatic investing and dollar-cost averaging do not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets. Investors should consider their financial ability to continue their purchases through periods of low price levels.

E*TRADE Financial and its subsidiaries provide financial services including brokerage and banking products and services to retail customers. Securities products and services are offered by E*TRADE Securities LLC (Member FINRA/SIPC). Commodity futures and options on futures products and services are offered by E*TRADE Futures LLC (Member NFA). Managed Account Solutions are offered through E*TRADE Capital Management, LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Bank products and services are offered by E*TRADE Bank, and RIA custody solutions are offered by E*TRADE Savings Bank, both of which are national federal savings banks (Members FDIC). More information is available at www.etrade.com.

E*TRADE Financial, E*TRADE, and the E*TRADE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of E*TRADE Financial Corporation. ETFC-G

© 2019 E*TRADE Financial Corporation. All rights reserved.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190918005457/en/

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