Survey: rural millennials less likely to invest income

Rural and urban millennials have very different investment habits, says a new survey. Younger adults in urban areas tend to be more financially secure and savvier than their rural counterparts, the survey found, while "adults aged 22-37 from rural areas are less likely to invest over the next five years, less assured in making investment decisions and have fewer investment accounts. They are also less optimistic about financial markets," Janna Herron reports for USA Today.

Part of the reason rural millennials invest less is that fewer of them have steady work or a college degree. Though overall poverty rates in rural and urban areas are almost the same, rural millennials are less likely than urban millennials to have full-time employment (50 percent vs. 70 percent). And only 39 percent of rural millennials believe they'll someday escape a paycheck-to-paycheck existence, compared to 49 percent of urban millennials. And even among urban millennials who don't have a bachelor's degree or more are still more likely to invest, Herron reports.

Robert Stammers, director of investor engagement at the CFA Institute, a co-sponsor of the survey, said rural millennials could use online tools like apps and planning calculators to get more comfortable and informed about investing, but said lawmakers must work to increase access to such tools in rural areas. Increasing broadband access in rural areas would surely help in such an endeavor.