Gen Z has virtually no excuse for financial illiteracy

THE financial behaviours of Gen Z have been nothing if not consistent over the last few years. They routinely create trends about the merits of spending while you’re young and fun. A few years ago, it was posting the text “I’ll make my money back, but I’ll never…” with some image of a perceived once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Now, the cohort is increasingly participating in “doom spending” – a form of retail therapy that helps consumers cope with everyday stresses – more than older generations. It dovetails with another troubling trend:  Almost half of Gen Z – 49 per cent – has decided that saving for the future is pointless, according to a late May Credit Karma survey. 

These choices exemplify poor money management skills, a reality that has led Gen Z to blame schools for not teaching them more about how to manage their finances effectively. But of all the generations, Gen Z is the one with no right to complain about the lack of access to personal finance education in school. If any generation had a chance to teach themselves, it is them. 

Young adults today have grown up in a world full of easily accessible financial information and services, such as digital solutions for seemingly every method of budgeting. That includes the rise of investing apps and robo-advisers, which provide a low barrier of entry to those ready to get into the stock market. Credit reports and scores are also widely available through free, legitimate services and even credit cards. Gen Zers have had access to content, online and off, that teaches the importance of understanding credit history since before they could apply for a card.

The oldest of Gen Z were only 16 when I started writing about money on the Internet. In the subsequent 12 years, personal finance blogs morphed into podcasts and YouTube shows. Then there was the rise of “finfluencers” on Instagram and TikTok. Plus, many personal finance personalities with a following got a book deal (me included). There are hundreds, nay, thousands of people across a vast spectrum offering advice on how to handle the almighty dollar. 

The democratisation of information should make Gen Z one of the most financially literate cohorts. With answers so easily found on smartphones they carry everywhere, access is hardly an issue. But only 33 per cent of the generation reports turning to social media for financial education, according to a 2025 survey conducted by Spruce, a mobile banking app. However, nearly 70 per cent of them have tried viral trends such as loud budgeting or soft saving compared to 51 per cent of millennials and 27 per cent of Gen X. Of course, the volume of information and competing narratives on topics such as debt repayment or building credit can be overwhelming. It also comes with the potential for misinformation. 

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Figuring out what is accurate online can make using the Internet feel exhausting. Lessons on how to navigate the misinformation and learning how to decipher if a sales pitch from a beloved influencer is masking a subpar financial product is critical.

These skills, when incorporated into the school curriculum, might be even more important than basic financial knowledge and habits, because the onslaught of nefarious content online is likely to grow even more pervasive thanks to generative AI.

But the reality is that most of what children and young adults learn about money comes from their home life rather than their schooling. Tossing a single semester-long class into high school graduation requirements, which could be taught by a teacher who is not a personal finance expert, isn’t going to be enough to move the needle towards fiscally prudent teens. Parents are the lynchpin in this battle for those coming of age to understand how to budget, save and invest. 

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Money lessons start to imprint on children much younger than most would expect. A five-year-old child is capable of having an emotional reaction to spending and saving, based on research from a University of Michigan study. There’s not a singular understanding as to why and how this happens, but it does mean parents are being watched and can educate well before their child is earning an income of their own. Having an open, age-appropriate dialogue about family finances, modelling good habits and talking through how to save for goals helps lay a foundation. 

People with a higher understanding of money basics are more likely to make ends meet and achieve goals like having an emergency savings fund or opening a retirement account, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (Finra) 2021 National Financial Capability Study, the most current available.

Of course, the risk of relying on parents to impart wisdom is that they may not be a model example. A preview of Finra’s 2025 study, to be released in July, found that only 27 per cent of American adults could answer five of the seven Financial Knowledge Quiz questions. However, with increased access to different resources, there’s no reason that parents who themselves feel underinformed need to stay that way. 

Financial literacy is one of the most valuable gifts a parent can give a child – even if it means learning alongside them. But for Gen Z, especially those who have already left the nest, gaining that knowledge on their own has never been easier.