And older adults are also guilty of making investment decisions at the worst times
Making investments that are later regretted may usually come from poor returns rather than poor judgement, but a sizeable number of people make the wrong decisions at the wrong time according to a new poll.
A survey of investors by financial comparison site MagnifyMoney.com asked Americans about the stocks they regret buying and found that two thirds have made an investment decision that was impulsive or emotionally charged.
This includes 85% of Gen Z adults (aged 18-24), 73% of Millennials, 60% of Gen Xers, and 54% of Boomers.
Almost one third of respondents across all adult ages had made an investment while inebriated, but this jumps to 59% among Gen-Zs.
Although most of those polled said that investing is better when emotions are left out of decisions, almost half admitted this was hard to achieve.
Keeping investments from affecting our emotions is also tricky, the survey found: 37% of investors have lost sleep worrying about the stock market, and 30% have cried over investing.
The tears are mostly due to losing money on the stock market (43%), feeling overwhelmed (36%) and selling too early (34%).
Advisors save tears
The research shows that investors who manage their portfolios generally have a harder time keeping emotions out of investing than those who rely on a financial advisor.
Those who self-manage their investments report higher rates of lost sleep and regrettable decisions than those who use an advisor.
