The rise of social media has fueled the idea that anyone, regardless of background, can become a successful investor. | Credit: Pexels.
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Key Takeaways
Millennials focus on long-term financial security, while Gen Z embraces higher-risk strategies like crypto.
Having grown up with crypto wallets and financial advice on social media, Gen Z is investing earlier than Millennials.
Surveys show Gen Z is far more likely to hold crypto than retirement accounts.
When it comes to money, Millennials and Gen Z live in the same economy but play by very different rules.
For Millennials, financial stability is a marathon: slow and steady, with a focus on paying down debt brick by brick.
Gen Z, on the other hand, grew up in the age of the sprint, chasing high-risk bets in crypto and meme stocks, and constantly looking for the next big win.
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Millennials came of age in a world where investing felt distant and exclusive.
Before the rise of commission-free apps and crypto exchanges, putting money into markets required an overwhelming sense of confidence and connections many people simply didn’t have.
Combined with the uneasiness created by the 2008 financial crisis and a heavy burden of student debt, this fostered a cautious mindset that kept many Millennials away from investing altogether.
As a result, Millennials tend to favor slow and steady financial strategies, leaning toward pensions and diversified funds rather than quick wins.
According to Arta, Millennials are much more likely to report structured financial behaviors such as saving regularly (55%) compared with Gen Z (46%).
They are also more likely to diversify their investments (39% vs. 22%) and place greater focus on saving for retirement (51% vs. 30%).
Gen Z Hits Different
Meanwhile, Gen Z has never known a world without frictionless investing.
From meme stock frenzies to easily accessible crypto wallets, the process feels more like social media than traditional finance.
On a Reddit forum about personal finance in Canada, one user wrote that they believed investing in the stock market had “gotten more accessible and much cheaper than previous generations.”
They explained: “Brokerages were charging exorbitant fees, and young adults at the time who didn’t have thousands (or even hundreds) to invest in a single shot would see those fees eat up a considerable percentage of their capital.”
This perspective is supported by Statistics Canada and a TD Bank survey, which found that Gen Z is exploring investing earlier than other generations.
The majority of Gen Z are likely to invest in crypto | Source: YouGov
A February 2025 YouGov survey found that Gen Z investors are nearly four times more likely to own cryptocurrency than to have a retirement account.
Crypto’s Cultural Chokehold
For much of this younger generation, crypto has become central to how they imagine building future wealth.
Gen Z is also the first generation to grow up with the sometimes dangerous world of wealth-building advice influencers deliver on TikTok.
All of this has normalized risk-taking and get-rich-quick schemes as part of everyday financial life.
The rise of social media has fueled the idea that anyone, regardless of background, can become a successful investor.
Social media is filled with get-rich-quick videos | Source: YouTube
Online forums and countless TikTok videos are filled with stories of ordinary people striking it rich.
These tales of sudden wealth have fueled a collective belief that crypto could provide an escape route from a rigged economy.
Meanwhile, Millennials, shaped by the memory of markets collapsing overnight, tend to maintain a more grounded view of wealth creation.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
