{"id":266927,"date":"2026-01-27T18:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/266927\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T18:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:35:11","slug":"will-gen-z-be-better-at-saving-for-retirement-than-other-generations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/266927\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Gen Z be better at saving for retirement than other generations?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In a recent survey, 41 per cent of Gen Z said they are motivated to retire well before age 55 to pursue ambitions such as small business, non-profit work or creative pursuits.GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

While retirement is still far off, Leona Ding is already planning for it.<\/p>\n

Ms. Ding, 23, is a recent graduate from Carleton University\u2019s media production and design program. While working through school, she managed to put aside nearly half her paycheques. That money was divided carefully: some for emergencies, some for short-term goals and travel, and some for the \u201cway, way, way future Leona, who one day hopes to retire without needing to work when I\u2019m significantly older,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s currently working in France as an English-language assistant. While it\u2019s an exciting adventure, Ms. Ding says it also means she\u2019s saving less than she did during her school years. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really scary time to be looking for work, especially when you\u2019re young,\u201d she says. And though she doesn\u2019t have \u201csuper concrete goal posts\u201d for retirement, she says \u201cit\u2019s something I keep in mind.\u201d <\/p>\n

There\u2019s some evidence that Gen Z is better at saving than previous generations. Recent analysis of The National Payroll Institute\u2019s 2025 Annual Survey of Working Canadians by Canada\u2019s Financial Wellness Lab found that compared to older generations, Gen Z workers are saving an average of 11 per cent of each pay cheque<\/a>, a higher proportion than any other generation. (Generation X and boomers saved an average of eight per cent and millennials nine per cent of each paycheque.) Thirty per cent of Gen Z respondents in the survey reported saving $10,000 or more in the past year.<\/p>\n

According to a 2024 survey from TD Bank, 68 per cent of Gen Zers consistently invest annually<\/a> \u2013 a higher percentage than any other demographic in that survey.<\/p>\n

That motivation to save stems partly from the economic volatility that Gen Z has grown up with, says Vriti Panwar, a Toronto-based lead advisor for wealth management at Wealthsimple. Older generations often planned around milestones that feel increasingly out of reach to Gen Z: steady jobs, early homeownership, pensions. \u201cThe world is a very different place,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Alec Jeffery, 27, says he prioritizes saving and investing to give himself \u201cinfinite flexibility\u201d in retirement.Supplied\/Tara Sabloff<\/p>\n

Looking at retirement differently<\/p>\n

A 2024 survey from Wealthsimple showed that while many Gen Zers are thinking about retirement, they\u2019re also bucking traditional notions of what the end of work means<\/a>. For example, 74 per cent of 25-to-44-year-olds said the conventional approach to retirement \u2013 halting work at age 65 to enjoy a life of leisure \u2013 is an outdated concept. But 41 per cent said they are motivated to retire well before age 55 so they can pursue ambitions related to small business, consulting, non-profit work, a passion project or a creative pursuit. <\/p>\n

For Gen Z, it\u2019s more about financial independence than retirement, says Ms. Panwar. \u201cIf I want to change a career, move to a different city or start a side hustle, do I have enough buffer to be able to make those choices?\u201d <\/p>\n

Alec Jeffrey, 27, says that when he thinks about his future retired self, his top priority is having the financial freedom to pursue whatever he wishes \u2013 whether that be continuing to live his current lifestyle or travel the world. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to give myself infinite flexibility,\u201d says Mr. Jeffery, a software engineering graduate currently working in Montreal. <\/p>\n

He says he started saving early thanks to lessons learned at home. At 18, Mr. Jeffery received an introduction to long-term investing when his step-grandfather handed him Canadian personal finance book The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton. Not long after, Mr. Jeffrey\u2019s grandmother helped him and his siblings open a TFSA and set up automatic monthly contributions \u2013 sometimes as little as $50 \u2013 into an index fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just let that run right until the end of university,\u201d says Mr. Jeffery. \u201cI didn\u2019t touch it at all.\u201d When he made more money during co-op terms, he increased his contributions; when money was tight, he scaled back but never stopped entirely.<\/p>\n

Mr. Jeffery says he follows a simple rule: a certain percentage of his earnings go toward his expenses, and \u201cthe rest goes right to savings,\u201d he says. That structure lets him see where his money is going, curbing blind spending: \u201cI [call] it my personal allotment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Deidre Cross, who runs a popular personal finance account on TikTok, says her Gen Z audience is highly engaged.Supplied\/Tyra S\u00e9guin<\/p>\n

Financial literacy through TikTok<\/p>\n

Deidre Cross \u2013 a Toronto-based financial educator and founder of personal finance platform Ohh You Budget \u2013 says Gen Z is a big portion of her audience, often reaching out through direct messages on social media. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re so into it,\u2019\u201d says Ms. Cross, who has 87,000 followers on TikTok. <\/p>\n

She helps young people with financial literacy by sharing tips and downloadable budgeting templates, as well as being transparent about her own past money challenges. \u201cFor some people, it\u2019s their first time hearing about an emergency fund or a high-interest savings account,\u201d she says. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to retirement, her advice for Gen Z is: Don\u2019t ignore it, even if it seems far away. \u201cI tell Gen Z, start investing now, even if it\u2019s little.\u201d <\/p>\n

As someone who has been able to put significant funds away for his future, Mr. Jeffery\u2019s advice to his Gen Z peers is straightforward: \u201cGo to your bank, speak to a financial advisor, and say, \u2018Info dump me,\u2019\u201d he says. From there, it\u2019s about consistent contributions, he adds.<\/p>\n

Ms. Ding shares similar advice. \u201cIf you haven\u2019t been putting money aside, it can feel super overwhelming,\u201d she says \u2013 so start small, even if that means putting aside a few dollars a week.<\/p>\n

While Canada\u2019s current financial landscape is tough, with high housing costs, a challenging job market and economic uncertainty, Ms. Cross says that interacting with her Gen Z followers makes her feel hopeful for their futures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know what they want,\u201d she says. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to work forever.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: In a recent survey, 41 per cent of Gen Z said they are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[11271,1116,72,176,13282,7809,2945,61,1831,60,19293,89476,174,175,1611,2987,6116,2132,13467],"class_list":{"0":"post-266927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-adveditorial","9":"tag-appwebview","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-financial-literacy","13":"tag-future","14":"tag-gen-z","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-investing","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-noastack","19":"tag-ordid3892936014edit","20":"tag-personal-finance","21":"tag-personalfinance","22":"tag-retirement","23":"tag-savings","24":"tag-tiktok","25":"tag-young-people","26":"tag-youth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}