Short Takes: Retirees Using Net to Track Investments

Retired investors are using the Internet to track investments and gather financial information, according to a survey.

The survey, done by Washington-based Mathew Greenwald & Associates for the Forum for Investor Advice in Bethesda, Md., found that two-thirds of respondents with Internet access use the Web for financial research. About half of these use it to monitor the performance of their investments.

Barbara Levin, executive director of the forum, said the Internet would not replace financial advisers but instead add a tool for older investors. Sixty-eight percent of retirees said they use professional financial advisers. Only 11% of retirees said they had traded stocks or bonds on- line; 7% said they had bought or sold mutual funds on-line. These results were culled from interviews with 500 investors who have retired in the last two years.

Greenwald also surveyed 200 people who plan to retire in the next two years. Those surveyed had investable assets, not including real estate, of $50,000 or more and ranged in age from 55 to 70.

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