Survey: The stock market is again Americans' favorite long-term investment

The stock market is the top place to invest for the long term, say Americans in Bankrate’s 2025 Long-Term Investment Survey. In all, 27% of Americans said they prefer the stock market as the way to invest money that they didn’t need for a decade or more. This figure is in line with the 26% who chose the stock market in the 2022 survey, the last time Bankrate conducted this survey.

Real estate also made a strong showing in this year’s survey, coming in second place, with 24% of Americans picking it as the top long-term investment. This figure was down from 29% in the 2022 survey, when real estate was the most preferred option.

“Coming off a couple years of strong returns, it isn’t surprising to see stocks and real estate as the top two most common selections for long-term investment,” says Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate chief financial analyst.

Bankrate’s survey also revealed that the top reason Americans didn’t select the stock market as their preferred long-term investment was its well-known volatility. The survey also showed that 78% of Americans remain uncomfortable with investing in cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.

Bankrate surveyed 1,033 American adults Jan. 17-19 about their investment preferences. Below are the main findings from the survey.

The stock market is the most popular long-term investment

The stock market is Americans’ preferred investment for money they don’t need for the next 10 years or more. A total of 27% of the survey’s respondents picked the stock market. Below is a full list of responses and the percentage of Americans who favored each:

—The stock market — 27%

—Real estate — 24%

—Cash investments (savings, CDs) — 21%

—Gold and other precious metals — 9%

—Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — 6%

—Bonds — 6%

—Some other investment — 7%

It may not be surprising that Americans are feeling the love for the stock market after the past two years. The S&P 500 stock index, a collection of hundreds of America’s top companies, returned more than 20% in both 2023 and 2024. Americans’ preference for stocks at 27% is in line with the results of Bankrate’s previous survey in 2022, when 26% tapped stocks as their top long-term investment, and it’s above the 16% in the 2021 survey.

With 21%, cash investments came in third in this year’s survey, ahead of the 17% in the 2022 survey.

“What is surprising is the strong preference for cash among so many long-term investors,” says McBride. “While cash is entirely appropriate for short-term horizons, it is the worst choice over time horizons of a decade or more as inflation chews up much or all of an investor’s return.”

Gold and other precious metals came in with 9%, in line with the 9% in 2022. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at 6% was even with 6% in the prior survey. Bonds were tapped by 6% of Americans in this year’s survey, compared to 9% in 2022. A further 7% said some other investment was their preference, compared to 3% before.

Volatility is the top reason Americans dislike stocks

The stock market is typically among the best places for long-term investments, with the S&P 500 index returning about 10% annually over time. So why did some Americans pick something besides stocks as their top long-term investment?

Among respondents who didn’t pick the stock market as their preferred investment for the next decade or more, here are the top answers for why they didn’t:

—“Too much volatility” — 34%

—“Intimidated by the stock market” — 21%

—“The stock market is rigged against individuals” — 13%

—“Focused on preserving money rather than growing it” — 13%

—“The investment returns won’t keep pace with others” — 12%

—“Some other reason” — 8%

“Volatility and intimidation are the top reasons cited for those not choosing the stock market as a preferred long-term investment,” says McBride. “Fortunately, a solution exists. A broad stock market index fund diversifies your risk over hundreds or even thousands of stocks, damping the impact of volatility in any one stock or sector. And index funds are very much the ‘investing on autopilot’ best suited for new investors or those otherwise intimidated about the whole idea.”

The best index funds deliver strong performance and charge reasonable fees, too.

Of those who did not prefer the stock market as the best investment for 10 years or more, all age groups cited volatility as their top reason. About 39% of baby boomers (ages 61-79) and 36% of Gen X (ages 45-60) cited this reason, followed by 33% of Gen Z (ages 18-28) and 30% of millennials (ages 29-44).

Younger respondents were most likely to say they found the stock market to be intimidating as the reason for not picking stocks. About 29% of Gen Z cited this reason, followed by 24% of millennials, 14% of Gen X and 22% of boomers.

Women cited intimidation (23%) at a much higher rate than men did (15%).

Americans remain uncomfortable with cryptocurrency

The Bankrate survey revealed that Americans remain largely uncomfortable with investing in cryptocurrency. Only 1 in 5 (20%) respondents who had heard of it were “very” or “somewhat” comfortable investing in it. Meanwhile, 78% said they were “not too comfortable” or “not at all comfortable” investing in cryptocurrency. Just 2% of respondents said they had not heard of cryptocurrency or Bitcoin. Here’s the full breakdown of results:

—Very comfortable — 5%

—Somewhat comfortable — 15%

—Not too comfortable — 28%

—Not at all comfortable — 49%

—Had not heard of it — 2%

The 2025 numbers were similar to those of 2022, when 21% were “very” or “somewhat” comfortable, compared to 75% who were “not too comfortable” or “not at all comfortable.”

The 2025 figures broke significantly along gender lines. Men were more than twice as likely to say that they were “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” investing in cryptocurrencies, compared to women (27% to 13%).

Younger generations were more likely than older ones to name cryptocurrency as their preferred investment. Preference in crypto fell with age: Gen Z and millennials (both 9%) favored crypto the most as an investment, followed by 6% of Gen X and 1% of boomers.

The comfort level with cryptocurrency was also similarly skewed toward younger generations: About 28% of Gen Z said they were “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” with it, compared to 30% of millennials, 21% of Gen X and 6% of boomers.

Investment preferences varied by age, gender, income and education

The Bankrate survey also showed how investment preferences differ among groups, especially by age, gender, income and education.

When it comes to other investment preferences, Gen X was the most likely to favor real estate (31%), with millennials not far behind (29%). In turn, the oldest and youngest age groups preferred real estate the least: Gen Z at 15% and boomers at 20%.

The preference for cash investments was similarly high at the oldest and youngest age groups and lower in the middle age groups: Boomers (26%) and Gen Z (24%) on the higher end and millennials (16%) and Gen X (19%) on the low end.

Men (33%) were much more likely than women (22%) to prefer the stock market as an investment for periods of 10 years or more. But about the same number of men and women preferred real estate (24% for men, 25% for women). For cash investments, women preferred them at a much higher rate (28%) than men did (15%).

Higher-earning households also tended to prefer the stock market for long-term investments. Just 14% of households making less than $50,000 preferred the stock market, compared with 41% of households making $100,000 or more.

That trend was flipped in the preference for cash investments: Households earning less than $50,000 annually preferred cash investments at more than twice the rate of households earning $100,000 or more (28% to 13%).

Lower-income respondents also were more likely than others to say they were more interested in preserving money than investing in the stock market. For example, 18% of households with incomes less than $50,000 cited preserving money as their reason, compared to just 6% of households earning more than $100,000.

Higher education also was associated with a higher preference for the stock market. Those with college degrees or higher preferred stocks (38%) at a greater rate than those with some college education (27%) and those with a high school degree or less (17%).

— Methodology This study was conducted for Bankrate by SSRS on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform. The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. Data collection was conducted from Jan. 17-19, 2025, among a sample of 1,033 respondents. The survey was conducted via web (n=1,003) and telephone (n=30) and administered in English (n=1,007) and Spanish (n=26). The margin of error for total respondents is +/- 3.8%age points at the 95% confidence level. All SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus data are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older.