Gen Z is coming of age at a time when it seems the old rules of financial success no longer apply. High housing costs, stagnant wages, rising child care costs, and an ongoing affordability crisis are fueling a popular narrative that young people are embracing financial nihilism, or the belief that because traditional paths to wealth-building are out of reach, they must pursue risky financial strategies to achieve their financial goals.
At the same time, evidence suggests young people are saving and investing earlier than previous generations, managing their money responsibly, and actively seeking financial guidance from friends, family, and social media influencers.
So which narrative is correct? Are young people financial nihilists, gambling away their financial security on cryptocurrency, meme stocks, and sports betting? Or are they savvy strategists, diligently saving and planning ahead for an uncertain future?
To explore this question, the Urban Institute fielded a nationally representative survey (N = 3,194) in January 2026. We asked respondents about their financial attitudes and behaviors and analyzed the data by age to explore how Gen Z young adults (who are currently ages 18 to 29) compare with adults age 30 or older.
Key Findings
- Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Gen Z respondents say their generation faces tougher economic circumstances than previous generations. More than half (52 percent) say their generation must take more risks to reach their financial goals.
- At the same time, many young adults are optimistic about their financial future: 56 percent believe their financial situation will improve in the next year and 42 percent believe they’ll be financially better off than their parents.
- Many young adults are actively saving in checking accounts (75 percent), retirement accounts (42 percent), and high-yield savings accounts (25 percent). Smaller shares are saving in other types of accounts, such as money market accounts and educational accounts.
- Some young adults are also embracing speculative financial strategies to get ahead, including cryptocurrency (22 percent), retail investing (21 percent), and sports betting (17 percent).
Far from being purely nihilistic or savvy, today’s young adults are navigating a complex financial landscape with caution, creativity, and ambition. The survey data show they are embracing a mix of traditional and speculative financial strategies to build wealth and financial security during challenging economic times.
Gen Z adults believe their generation faces tough economic conditions
We find that young adults are less likely than other adults to believe economic conditions in the US will improve in the next year (16 percent versus 30 percent). They are also more likely than other adults to say their generation faces more challenging economic circumstances than previous generations (65 percent versus 56 percent).
More than half of young adults (52 percent) say their generation must take risks to cope with these conditions and get ahead, compared with just over a third (35 percent) of other adults. This belief may explain Gen Z's willingness to embrace high-risk, high-reward financial strategies, such as cryptocurrency, retail investing, and sports betting, as we discuss below.
Gen Z adults are concerned about their personal finances
Young adults are less likely than other adults to say they are on track to meet their long-term financial goals (33 percent versus 45 percent). They are also less likely than other adults to say they feel in control of their personal finances (61 percent versus 72 percent).
Nearly half of young adults (45 percent) say they are more focused on meeting today’s needs than on saving for the future, potentially reflecting the high costs of food, housing, and other daily expenses. This aligns with a qualitative Urban Institute study from early 2026 that found young adults were struggling to cope with high living costs amid the ongoing affordability crisis.
Despite challenges, Gen Z adults are optimistic about the future
Though many young people are concerned about the economy and their personal finances, many also feel positively about the future. More than half (56 percent) believe their personal financial situation will improve in the next year, compared with less than half of other adults (46 percent).
Forty-two percent of young adults believe they will be financially better off than their parents, while only 18 percent of young adults do not believe this. These sentiments may be surprising given the economic and financial challenges discussed above, but they suggest that many young adults remain optimistic nonetheless.
Gen Z’s Financial Attitudes Differ by Income Level
This research explores the financial attitudes of Gen Z respondents generally, but there is considerable diversity in this age group’s sentiments and behaviors.
For example, young adults with annual household incomes below $75,000 are much less likely than their peers with incomes above $75,000 to be optimistic about their personal financial situations. They are about a third as likely to say they are on track to meet their financial goals (18 percent versus 56 percent), less likely to feel in control of their finances (48 percent versus 80 percent), and less likely to expect their financial situations will improve in the next year (45 percent versus 72 percent).
Further exploration of how financial sentiments differ between groups of young adults is beyond the scope of this initial analysis but an important avenue for future study.
Gen Z adults are actively saving in financial accounts
Many young adults say they have saved money in a checking account (75 percent), a retirement account (42 percent), or a high-yield savings account (25 percent) in the past 12 months. Smaller shares report saving in money market accounts, educational accounts, and other types of accounts. These findings align with recent reports that young people are contributing to 401ks and saving regularly in other types of financial accounts.
Gen Z adults are embracing speculative financial strategies
Many young people are also using speculative financial strategies to get ahead. According to our survey, nearly a quarter (22 percent) of young adults currently own or have owned cryptocurrency, 21 percent have purchased or traded retail investments, and 17 percent have bet on sports in the past 12 months.
Below we explore how and why people use these financial strategies, drawing on responses from all survey respondents when sample sizes prevent analysis among young adults only.
Cryptocurrency. Young people are more likely than other adults to own or have owned crypto (22 percent versus 15 percent). Investing in crypto can be risky because prices are volatile, consumer protections are limited, and investors may be vulnerable to fraud and scams. But popular narratives of overnight wealth creation, viral success stories, and outsized returns have fueled interest among young investors.
Among current crypto owners of all ages, most (68 percent) say they use cryptocurrency as an investment strategy. Nearly half (45 percent) say they primarily own crypto to diversify their investment portfolios. Many also say they own crypto because they are interested in new technologies (37 percent of current owners) and because they believe crypto and digital technologies are the future (27 percent of current owners).
Retail investing. More than a fifth of young adults (21 percent) say they have personally purchased or traded retail investments, such as individual company stocks, fractional shares, options, futures, or meme stocks, in the past 12 months. These types of investments are generally riskier than pooled investments like mutual funds because they increase investors’ exposure to market volatility and the risks of owning single stocks. But as with crypto, stories of ordinary investors generating big returns have attracted the attention of young people.
We find that among all survey respondents, retail investors are more likely than non–retail investors to say their generation must take more risks to achieve their financial goals (54 percent versus 35 percent). This suggests that some retail investors may be pursuing this strategy in response to economic pressures.
Sports betting. Young adults are more likely than older adults to bet on sports. According to our survey, 17 percent of all young adults say they bet on sports in the past 12 months, compared with 10 percent of other adults.
Among survey respondents of all ages, more than two-thirds (67 percent) say they primarily bet on sports to win money, even though the vast majority of people do not make money betting on sports. This is higher than the share who say they primarily bet on sports because it is fun or exciting (52 percent), to socialize with friends and family (24 percent), or because they received promotional credits (24 percent).
We find that most people who bet on sports do so relatively infrequently, with small sums of money, and without a significant impact on their financial lives. But 15 percent of young adults who are betting on sports say they have saved less money than if they were not betting on sports, which is concerning given the industry’s expected growth.
Developing policies and practices that support Gen Z
Despite expressing concerns about the economy and their personal finances, many young adults are optimistic about their financial futures. They are embracing traditional financial strategies alongside more speculative strategies to build wealth and plan for the future. These behaviors align with many young people’s belief that their generation must take more risks than previous generations to achieve their financial goals.
To ensure that young people can safely participate in emerging markets, policymakers and regulators should consider how meaningful guardrails can protect them from harm. For sports betting, this could mean limiting high-risk features like microbets and in-game wagers, increasing the legal age for sports betting from 18 to 21, and restricting betting activities on college campuses. For cryptocurrency, it could mean implementing robust consumer protections, mandating clear disclosures, and providing investors with recourse channels when they fall victim to frauds or scams.
Financial services providers also have a role to play. Rather than promoting financial nihilism, financial companies can help young people work toward a brighter future. Advances in AI are creating opportunities to tailor products to young people’s needs, and thoughtful, timely advice can be embedded in financial tools such as early wealth-building accounts. Introducing strategic friction, such as small pauses or prompts that provide opportunity for reflection, can also help young people make deliberate, informed financial decisions.
Neither entirely nihilistic nor entirely savvy, Gen Z adults are like young people that came before them and those that will follow them. They are seeking well-designed financial services that will allow them to achieve their financial goals now and in the future.
ABOUT THE DATA
In January 2026, the Urban Institute fielded a survey through the Understanding America Study (UAS), a national online consumer panel administered by the University of Southern California. The survey was fielded to 6,240 adults, 3,194 of whom completed it. Poststratification weights were generated to bring the sample in line with the demographics of the national population.
All differences in outcomes between groups reported in the text of this article are statistically significant at a 5 percent level, using a survey design–adjusted two-sample t-test. Where multiple comparisons were made, p values were adjusted using a Bonferroni correction. The study’s limitations include potential nonresponse bias, limited sample sizes for subgroup analysis, and a skew toward female respondents among Gen Z (65 percent were female).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was produced through the Financial Well-Being Hub and funded in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the U.S. Bank Foundation. We are grateful to them and to all our funders, who make it possible for Urban to advance its mission.
The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. Funders do not determine research findings or the insights and recommendations of our experts. More information on our funding principles is available here.
We thank Madeline Brown, Margaret Libby, and Signe-Mary McKernan for their expert review and thoughtful feedback and Aaron R. Williams for his data and methodology review.
