TD Ameritrade Sees Record Demand for Investor Education

Three quarters (76%) of investors say the more educated they are about investing, the better they can manage their money, according to a new Financial Literacy Survey conducted for TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: AMTD). That number rises to 80 percent for Millennials.

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According to the survey, six in ten people (60%) said they wished they learned about money earlier in life. And 72 percent believe if investing was taught in school, Americans would be better about saving and investing properly. However, few people learned about the stock market and investing in school. A startling nine percent said they took a course in high school and seven percent in college. Of those who took a financial course in school, just half (51%) said their college course was effective and fewer than a third (28%) said the same for their high school course.

“There is a gap in the system when it comes to financial literacy and it’s our role as a provider of financial education to fill that gap,” said Lee McAdoo, managing director of Investor Education for TD Ameritrade, Inc.1 (“TD Ameritrade”). “The recent volatility in the financial markets created a new level of stress for many investors. Times like these are a good reminder of why financial education is important in helping investors stay confident as they look to reevaluate their portfolios and make investment decisions.”

According to the Financial Literacy Survey, 45 percent of respondents wish they had more time to learn about investing. But, despite the acknowledgement that education is important, just 36 percent spend their spare time learning about investing. That compares to 48 percent who use their spare time to learn about cooking and 44 percent who use their time to learn about travel. The good news? More than half (55 percent) of those who do focus on learning more about investing report that they spend more time now than they did five years ago.

At TD Ameritrade, clients have turned to education even more since the start of the year. In January, TD Ameritrade’s online education content usage was up 63 percent year over year. And investors continued to engage throughout the market swings the first few weeks of February. In fact, the TD Ameritrade Network at times saw five times the viewers of an average day.2

“Financial acumen is a powerful thing. The more knowledgeable investors are about the markets and investing, the more confident and empowered they are to manage their financial futures,” said McAdoo. “But, we are all crunched for time and there is so much information it’s hard to know where to start. That’s why we’ve rebuilt our entire education offering to distill down what matters, remove the jargon and make it even easier to access.”

Clients can access TD Ameritrade’s complete education center once logged in via tdameritrade.com, thinkorswim, or TD Ameritrade mobile. A significant amount of education content is also available to the public via https://www.tdameritrade.com/education.page and by connecting with TD Ameritrade on YouTube, Amazon Echo Show, Facebook Messenger and Twitter Direct Message. Investors are also encouraged to check out the TD Ameritrade Network, broadcasting all-day live programming that helps them hone their market and investing knowledge.

About TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
TD Ameritrade provides investing services and education to more than 11 million client accounts totaling more than $1 trillion in assets, and custodial services to more than 6,000 registered investment advisors. We are a leader in U.S. retail trading, executing more than 700,000 trades per day for our clients, nearly a quarter of which come from mobile devices. We have a proud history of innovation, dating back to our start in 1975, and today our team of 10,000-strong is committed to carrying it forward. Together, we are leveraging the latest in cutting edge technologies and one-on-one client care to transform lives, and investing, for the better. Learn more by visiting TD Ameritrade’s newsroom at www.amtd.com, or read our stories at Fresh Accounts.

About the Survey
An online survey of 1,001 Americans age 18+ with $10,000+ investible assets was conducted September 2017 by True North Market Insights on behalf of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation. TD Ameritrade and True North are separate and unaffiliated firms and are not responsible for each other’s services or policies.

1TD Ameritrade, Inc. (“TD Ameritrade”) is a broker-dealer subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation. Brokerage services provided by TD Ameritrade, Inc., member FINRA (www.FINRA.org) /SIPC (www.SIPC.org)

2The TD Ameritrade Network is produced by TD Ameritrade Media Productions Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation and affiliate of the broker-dealer, investment advisor, and other regulated financial businesses of the Company. The Media Co. is not a financial adviser, registered investment advisor, or broker-dealer.

Brokerage services provided by TD Ameritrade, Inc., member FINRA (www.FINRA.org)/SIPC (www.SIPC.org).

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