Millennials Missing Out on Long Term Growth Opportunities; Fairfield Start-up Sees Generations It Can Help

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The general absence of personal financial content in schools, coupled with the growing burden of student debt and an economy increasingly reliant on less permanent, part time jobs, is – understandably - causing significant financial stress for many millennials.

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The unsettling facts behind the apprehension may not be widely known:

  • 46% of millennials have $0 in savings (yet reportedly spend nearly $5,000 per year on luxuries from lattes to vaping, video games to avocado toast)

  • Over 40% of millennials say they have zero investing experience

  • Fewer than one in four 18-35 year-olds (23%) prefer investing to holding cash

  • 61% of people aged 18-29, rising to 65% of people age 30-39, say investing is scary and/or intimidating.

The result: over 60% of individuals ages 18-35 (45 million people) are completely “uninvested.”

Increasingly, millennials are looking for help to get in control of their financial futures, but are often skeptical about investing in the stock market, describing themselves as under-educated and under-experienced.  Yet, investment companies often don't adequately address the specific needs of Generations Y and Z, so major financial institutions tend to have difficulty acquiring younger investors.

Enter start-up firm FinTron Invest, a Fairfield-based entrepreneurial enterprise that took root at Sacred Heart University, beginning last year.  Early in 2020, FinTron plans to launch a series of investing, banking and educational tools specifically designed to help accelerate the financial stability of young people, according to organizers of the business.

“As we built-out FinTron, we worked through all of the barriers that young people face when trying to start investing,” explained CEO Wilder Rumpf, a 23 year-old Senior. “We then leveraged technology to make the untraditional feasible, by offering fractional shares, premade investment products, education and a myriad of data buildouts.”

FinTron is a young team of developers — the oldest being 25 — offering what is described as the youngest app on the market. Tailored to young people, it is “by millennials for millennials.” FinTron also has a board with more than 30 years of experience in each of their respective fields, bringing together the enthusiasm and know-how of youth and wisdom.  The company will focus on delivering better education and easy-to-use financial products, aimed squarely at Generations Y and Z.   

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Education will come first.  FinTron’s educational content is designed to encourage new investors to engage in the world of finance. It will include very social, highly graphical games where people of all ages can trade simulated stocks and learn to invest using real-time data and $100,000 of imitation money. The company will conduct quarterly contests where users can compete for cash prizes. The best investors with the greatest account value at the end win the cash. Gamers can upload profile pictures, check out other people’s portfolios and select from over 650 stocks and ETFs. The game offers a great way for young people try out investing strategies with zero risk, a so-called "learn before you burn" approach.

On the product side, the company will offer fractional share brokerage services allowing young people to invest as little as $10 in roughly 625 stocks and a mix of 30 ETF's and ETN's. FinTron also offers premade sector baskets for diversifying, a build-and-back-test tool for your own portfolio, automated, repeat investments and savings tools.

“Once launched,” said Rumpf, “we will make trading/investing/banking and all things related to personal finance, not only accessible but feasible for the 99%." Rumpf is graduating Sacred Heart with a dual BS in Finance and Economics. 

The company website notes that “We believe everyone deserves access to quality investment services for a low cost.” It also points out that “before you start investing, FinTron firmly believes that every investor should gain an understanding of how much risk they can tolerate.” In addition to the cadre of students who developed the business and experienced business faculty at Sacred Heart University who provided advice along the way, FinTron has also tapped in to advisers from CTNext and the Connecticut Small Business Development Center.

FinTron plans to donate 1% of its gross revenue to student loan forgiveness programs and 5% of net profits to charities focused on helping young people facing financial difficulty.