2 Biggest Financial Concerns for Gen Z about Retirement and Social Security
For BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink, the biggest concern right now isn’t inflation but rather the lack of hope among younger generations. Millennials and Gen Z believe baby boomers put their financial well-being first, and Fink says they’re right about retirement and social security.
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In his annual letter to BlackRock shareholders, Fink discussed each generation’s retirement expectations and what’s ahead for younger workers, Fortune reported. He cited a recent survey by the University of Michigan that tracks 12th graders’ public sentiment. According to the findings, young Americans are 50% more likely to question whether life has a purpose. Four in ten stated it’s “hard to have hope for the world.” This is the worst since 1976, The Wall Street Journal noted.
“I’ve been working in finance for almost 50 years. I’ve seen a lot of numbers. But no single data point has ever concerned me more than this one,” Fink wrote.
Right now, one of the biggest financial concerns for younger workers is the looming retirement crisis. Americans live longer, and Social Security and other retirement benefit plans struggle to keep up. As baby boomers continue to put off retirement reform, younger Americans lose hope and trust in the older generation. According to Fortune, younger workers believe they’ll be left to deal with the consequences.
Another concern is fear itself, Fink said, specifically young Americans’ lack of confidence about putting their money in capital markets. Fink sees confidence in investing as a key factor in America’s success and economic growth, Fortune reported.
In an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Fink said investing is essential to helping people save money to live well and stop working when they no longer want to work.
Data from the New York Federal Reserve shows that Gen Z and millennials have grown their wealth by 80% over the past four years thanks to the cost of living crisis and young adults’ views on the economy, Fortune added. However, it’s still well behind boomers.
But there’s still hope. Fink argued that the way to get hope back is for his generation, the baby boomers, to invest in their long-term goals, including retirement.
“I am bullish on these young people,” Fink said to Cramer. “They’re smarter than we were at our age, they have more global understanding of the world.”
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