Investors Who Use a Digital Investing Platform Report Higher Confidence, Survey Finds

This blog post was brought to you by my partner, Betterment. Paid client. Views may not be representative. See App Store & Google Play reviews. Learn more. Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed. Source: Betterment Retail Investor Survey, 2026.

My friend recently got a new job that more than doubled her salary. “Dude,” she texted me the other day, “Now that I feel rich, using my Wealth Planner is so fun.” 

I asked her to elaborate. When I started assiduously tracking every move in my financial life in 2018, I didn’t have a high income, but it gave me a sense of control and focus that I wanted desperately in my financial life. Things really got cookin’ in 2020 when my income was buoyed by the Paycheck Protection Program and those hot, hot stimulus checks, and there was basically nothing to spend money on. I felt rich not because I was, but because the potential was palpable and the temptations were few. 

“I just feel like before, I really felt every single brick of the ‘brick-by-brick’ nature of the financial journey,” she replied. Now that she could see herself making progress, maintaining a system of awareness and action felt fun. 

Betterment recently released its 2026 Retail Investor Survey and it seemed like there were two parallel stories inside it. 

On one hand, there’s a relatively low level of confidence in retirement readiness—44%—which means, understandably, most people don’t feel like they’re on track, though slightly more than half—55%—reported a “positive financial outlook for 2026” when they were surveyed earlier this year.

Based on Betterment-sponsored survey as of 4/3/2026.

Cost of living concerns were palpable.  “I can’t tighten anything up anymore,” one Gen X investor reported. “Just sell things off and rent rooms and look for more work. Can’t stop buying basics like food or fuel, and repairs only go so far.” In other words, there’s not much breathing room for long-term planning (again, this seemed to be true for roughly half of respondents). It’s unsurprising, then, that 54% of investors started planning for a major financial milestone (home purchase, a child, marriage) less than a year in advance, with 68% reporting they wish they had started earlier.

Based on Betterment-sponsored survey as of 4/3/2026.

On one hand, when things feel tight, sometimes that feeling can be genuinely representative of reality—there’s no surplus left over with which to save. On the other hand, the feeling can sometimes undercut efforts to set anything aside, because small amounts can feel futile, even if it may be technically possible.

But I think there’s something to be said for the routine—even if it’s only adding a single brick—that creates momentum in a positive direction. Investors who use a digital investing platform report retirement confidence of 68%, compared to just 39%  among those who don’t, a gap that I don’t think is explainable by selection bias alone (i.e., it’s possible that those with more disposable income are more likely to use an investing platform).

Based on Betterment-sponsored survey as of 4/3/2026.

The survey found that investors who report the most retirement confidence have established a set of financial habits, an intentional structure for their money, and consistently report higher financial awareness and confidence.

As my friend’s story illustrates, there’s little substitute for simply having more money, which I think the report highlights as well, but I also know those habits don’t magically spring to life the moment you have more breathing room. For the group that has enough to support their needs and (reasonable) wants without feeling stretched thin but still doesn’t feel as though they’re making progress, I think adding the structure of a few financial habits can have a disproportionate positive impact. 

Here’s my current financial structure. The majority of my financial life is set on autopilot:

• (automatic) Copilot aggregates my transactions across all accounts so the data is ready for me at the end of the month
• (automatic) Transfers from my business accounts to my personal checking account on the first of the month for the amount that my accountant tells me I can get away with, giving me a baseline income to budget around
• (automatic) Credit cards set to be paid in full 
• (automatic) A monthly transfer at the end of the month from my personal checking account to my Solo 401(k) for the goal retirement savings amount
• (manual) Make my goal monthly debt payments to the IRS for my 2025 tax bill and toward a line of credit I took out for a large project this year
• (manual) Check in at the end of the month to record spending across all categories, actual income, debt payoff contributions, and account balances
• (manual) Determine what I can reasonably invest in taxable investing, and make the transfer myself 

If there’s anything I’m thankful to my 2018 self for, it’s saving for a long-term goal before knowing what that goal would be. I started contributing to my brokerage account that year despite not having a plan (around $300 per month, apparently, according to my 2018 Excel spreadsheet—thank you, low-cost-of-living), and just increased the automatic transfer $50 at a time as I worked to increase my income.

You can learn more about Betterment and start saving for the future today.