Buying a Home a Net Positive for U.S. Investors

Buying a home and getting married are two primary, positive life events for most investors in the United States, according to a new study.

These events rank in the top three life events for having a positive effect on investors' personal financial situations, according to the third quarter Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index survey. The metrics assess the impact of life events on personal finances by asking investors if any of 14 specific events including marriage, homeownership, having a child, receiving an inheritance, having a serious illness or accident, and more have happened to them and what the result was. Eighty-four percent of investors say buying a home had an overall positive effect on their personal finances, seven percent say it had a negative impact, for a +77 net impact score. For marriage, the net impact score was +70.

Gallup and Wells Fargo define U.S. investors as adults with $10,000 or more invested in stocks, bonds or mutual funds, either within or outside a retirement savings account ... Two of the life events -- sustaining major property damage or loss from a natural disaster and becoming a widow or widower -- were too uncommon among U.S. investors for Gallup to be able to report the net impact score of the occurrences. Consequently, they do not appear in the graph.

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