Elections in America, whether they be federal, state or local, are for every eligible voter under the jurisdiction of the office up for election.   

 

But political candidates often approach, cajole and entice voters from specific segments of the population. That includes older investors, who are most likely, among generational voters, to actually participate in the election process by voting.

 

And older investors are often retired. Being retired, with no new income sources and seemingly all the time in the world, take into consideration political issues in a different way than do working and younger investors.

 

Through 2020, Spectrem is asking how investors feel about the issues that will be discussed in political conversations and report the findings in their monthly report Wealthy Investors and the Election: A Guide for Financial Advisors in 2020. The results report how affluent investors feel about various topics and compare their reactions to their reported responses from previous months.

 

In terms of the political issues that could play a role in deciding the elections in November, the following recaps how retired investors differ from working investors in their opinions:

 

·         One might think retired investors would have greater concern than others over issues related to health care and prescription drug pricing. Instead, retired investors are much more concerned than others about issues related to immigration. Rating the importance of a comprehensive immigration policy, retired investors placed their interest and concern at 75.55 on a 100-point scale, approximately 5 points higher than working investors.

 

·      Similarly, regarding a solution for the so-called Dreamers, children who were brought to the United States by their immigrant parents, retired investors expressed their level of concern and interest at 70.39, almost seven points higher by average than working investors.

 

·         Investors were asked how often they want to hear from their advisor regarding issues that are being discussed in election conversations, and retired investors overwhelmingly chose “any time my advisor believes something from the election will impact my financial life (43.8 out of 100).” Working investors were much more likely to want regularly scheduled conversation about election issues (monthly or quarterly as the most popular choices), but retired investors regularly express interest in frequent conversations with advisors on all subjects.

 

All of that being said, retired investors are not likely to make changes to their portfolios due to matters being discussed in election debates. That does not mean they don’t plan to be reactionary to them.

 

 

©2020 Spectrem Group

 

 

Keywords: retired, investors, advisors, Spectrem, medical, drug pricing, healthcare, immigration