Gen Z embraces ’90s financial advice with a transparent twist
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TikTok — specifically financial TikTok, or FinTok — is the second most popular source of Gen Z financial advice. Insurify asked Gen Zers to choose up to two main sources of advice in a survey, and 22% of Zoomers indicated the app was one of their top ways to find information.
Gen Z women (25%) are much more likely to seek financial advice on TikTok than their male peers (16%). Younger Gen Zers also turn to the app more often, with 26% of 22- to 24-year-olds listing the platform as one of their top sources for advice, compared to 18% of 25- to 27-year-olds.
Only parents and other knowledgeable relatives (41%) beat out the video-sharing platform, which explains why so much of the financial advice on TikTok sounds like it came straight out of the ’90s — with a notable Gen Z twist.
For many Americans, money (along with politics and religion) isn’t something you discuss in polite company. Not so for Gen Z, who broadcast every expense on social media as part of the “loud budgeting” trend. Once-stigmatized conversations about money troubles are now content fodder, racking up views and comments from peers who feel similarly squeezed by inflation.
The transparency is new, but Gen Z’s financial advice shares a pragmatic approach found in popular personal finance books that their parents may have read in the 1990s.
“Whatever your income, always live below your means” is the fundamental rule of wealth building, according to John T. Stanley’s 1996 bestseller “The Millionaire Next Door.” Curb your spending, save aggressively, track your expenses, and you’ll find financial freedom, both ’90s books and present-day influencers promise.
Lillian Zhang, a 24-year-old content creator and product marketing manager in the tech industry, gives her 111,000 TikTok followers similar advice in a video about things that “keep you broke” in your 20s. Zhang cautions against living beyond your means, using buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services like Klarna and Afterpay, and taking money out of savings for unnecessary purchases.
Working multiple jobs or side hustles to earn extra money for savings is also part of the Gen Z ethos.
“Most of my friends have multiple things going on,” said Zhang, who makes about half her income from her day job and half from content creation. After the financial planning app Mint shut down, Zhang saw an opportunity for a new income stream and began selling financial trackers to help her audience stay on top of their goals.
Gen Z and doom spending: ‘The economy is so screwed, what’s the point of saving?’
Zhang has been interested in personal finance since middle school. Running a small business selling plush toys gave her “a sense of what it’s like to make my own money and the value that dollar held.”
But Zhang says not all of Gen Z is so frugal. “There is a sentiment that I’ve seen on TikTok where a lot of Gen Zers are like, ‘The economy is so screwed, what’s the point of saving?’”
Gloria Garcia Cisneros, a 27-year-old certified financial planner and wealth advisor with LourdMurray, says she’s noticed the same trend. Global conflicts, the state of the U.S., and environmental concerns are at the top of young people’s minds, influencing their approach to finances.
“They go into this doom spending,” said Cisneros, describing a phenomenon of impulse buying fueled by existential anxiety. “We tend to be in the moment and let emotion drive us, but if we take a step back, we see that there have been world wars and the Great Depression that we’ve lived through. … Even in these horrible worst-case scenarios, [markets] recover. I try to give [Gen Z clients] context.”
Rather than giving into financial anxiety, Cisneros thinks throwback advice could be a winning strategy for Gen Z.
“What was being said in the ’80s or ’90s wasn’t based on virality. It was based on what was passed down to you, and it’s how the older generations built wealth, which is simple. It’s just consistency, discipline, and small habits. That rings true, and if you stick to those basics, then you’re going to do well.”