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If you’re not quite sure how to spend and invest your money in the coming year, you may want to a cue from the super rich. A new Charles Schwab survey of high-net-worth investors — defined as those with at least $1 million in investable assets — is shedding some light on how this elite group will be utilizing their funds in 2025.
Here’s a look at how the super rich will be approaching their finances in 2025 — plus, what the average American can learn from them.
High-Net-Worth Individuals Are Optimistic About the Market and the Economy
The Charles Schwab survey found that a majority of high-net-worth investors are bullish on their outlook for the market and their own portfolios (55%), as well as the outlook for the economy (56%). However, experts warn that this optimism may have to be dampened.
“The U.S. economy and stock market are entering 2025 from a position of strength, but risks of volatility — especially pertaining to policy — are much higher compared to last year,” said Susan Hirshman, director of wealth management at Schwab Wealth Advisory. “While we believe that market performance and economic growth could remain decent, investors may need to dampen expectations when it comes to another year of record gains.”
Super-Rich Investors Will Be Updating Their Portfolios, but Keeping Risk Steady
According to the survey, 64% of high-net-worth investors plan to make portfolio changes in the next three months, with 63% planning to hold portfolio risk at current levels in 2025. Hirshman recommends that all investors revisit their portfolio at least once a year.
“We suggest that investors should have a long-term portfolio that is aligned with their goals, risk tolerance and risk capacity,” she said. “It is important for investors to develop a consistent discipline of rebalancing at least once a year. Due to outperformance in the equity markets, many investors may be overweight in equities or have a concentrated position as compared to their target asset allocation based on their risk tolerance.”
Hirshman recommends asking “what if” questions about future market performance to determine if your portfolio is balanced appropriately: “What if the market dropped 30% and I was overweight or concentrated? Or, what if the market went up another 30% and I reduced my exposure to more align with my goals?”
She also said it’s important to have your personal time frame in mind, and ask yourself the following questions: “Do I have enough time to make up for a large loss? Which would bring me the most discomfort? Which would make me take actions that would not help my long-term success?”
“There are always small adjustments that investors can take around the edges of their portfolio — but the question that needs to always be answered is, based on my time frame, risk tolerance and risk capacity, am I able to have a high probability of meeting my goals and a high sleep-at-night factor?” Hirshman said.
High-Net-Worth Americans Plan To Spend More on Travel and Less on Luxury Goods
The survey found that most high-net-worth investors plan to spend at least as much in 2025 as they did in 2024 (65%), and 27% say they’ll spend more. These individuals are most likely to spend more on travel this year than last year (40%), followed by healthcare (26%) and real estate, housing and/or home improvement (23%).
High-net-worth investors plan to spend less on luxury goods (31%), education (26%) and automotive (20%).
“No matter your wealth level, having a thoughtful and purposeful spending plan in place is of utmost importance,” Hirshman said. “It is important to watch inflation. There is some policy risk as this new administration sets their agenda, and if significant enough, investors may have to re-examine their spending plan and optimize it based on the new normal.”
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