Savings Trend: Curious Thoughts on Youngest Generation

How Gen Z is navigating money, work, housing and artificial intelligence in a world where stability feels harder to achieve.

May 27, 2026

6 min read

Savings Trend: Curious Thoughts on Youngest Generation

Gen Z, Money and Artificial Intelligence: Learning to Live in a More Expensive World

The fact that young people face major challenges when it comes to personal finance no longer surprises anyone.

The reality is that more and more young people seem to be aware of their own economic capacity. It is becoming increasingly common to see people from my generation choosing to save a little more each month instead of watching their money disappear in just a couple of weeks.

A Bank of America study, Gen Z & The Cost of Adulting 2026, speaks precisely about this: a generation learning to make decisions between enjoying the present and preparing for an increasingly uncertain future. According to the study, nearly 70% of Gen Z has taken specific actions to manage the rising cost of living over the past year.

And this does not mean that branding has stopped mattering. Quite the opposite. Brands are still relevant. But for young people, it matters more and more how a brand understands our economic reality, how it adapts to our wallets and whether it truly offers a good balance between value, price and experience.

How Gen Z Is Adjusting Its Habits

According to Bank of America, some of the most common actions young people are taking to deal with the rising cost of living include:

40% have reduced eating out.
24% have skipped events with friends.
20% have started shopping at less expensive grocery stores.
18% have started using a budget.
16% have taken on an additional job.

This last figure, even if smaller than the others, feels especially interesting to me. We have gone from idealizing the path of studying a degree, joining a good company and slowly building a career, to a reality in which many young people are considering having two jobs, launching side projects, becoming entrepreneurs or finding new ways to generate income.

In a world with an excess of qualified people and a lack of clear job opportunities, the question becomes uncomfortable but necessary: will young people have to become more entrepreneurial in order to depend less on a traditional salary?

Talking About Money Is No Longer So Uncomfortable

Not everything is negative.

One interesting consequence of this context is that people are speaking more openly about money. About saving. About investing. About pensions. About financial independence. About how to organize your life so you are not always living on the edge.

Bank of America also points out that 60% of Gen Z talks openly about money with friends, and that 75% look for ways to save money when going out.

This reflects an important cultural shift. In the past, talking about money could feel uncomfortable or even socially inappropriate. Now, for many young people, it has become a practical conversation. Almost a survival conversation.

Housing, Independence and New Generational Patterns

Access to housing is another major issue.

According to data from the National Association of Realtors reported by AP, single Gen Z women represented 35% of homebuyers within their generation, compared with 18% for single Gen Z men. In addition, Gen Z represented only 4% of all buyers during the period analyzed, which shows how difficult it still is for young people to access home ownership.

This data opens up several interpretations. On one hand, it shows that some young people still see property ownership as a path toward stability and independence. On the other, it makes clear that buying a home increasingly requires discipline, external support, saving capacity or additional sources of income.

The Discourse Around Effort Is Also Changing

Bringing this into the professional world, David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, recently spoke to students at Wharton. His message focused on effort, discipline and the use of time. Fortune reported that Solomon recalled how, when he was young, he held several jobs while studying and playing sports.

Without discrediting someone so relevant in his field, I think that mindset is evolving.

Effort still matters. Discipline also matters. Reading, learning, working well and having ambition remain key to professional growth. But new variables are now coming into play.

And some of them are artificial.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way we work, learn and compete. It is no longer enough to simply work harder. We also need to better understand the context, learn how to use new tools, adapt quickly and build our own judgment.

AI, Employment and Mental Health: A Delicate Combination

The labor market is changing at great speed.

Reuters reported that Meta was expected to begin a round of layoffs affecting around 8,000 employees in May 2026, as part of a reorganization linked to the company’s growing focus on artificial intelligence.

This kind of news reinforces a feeling many young people already have: studying a degree or joining a company no longer guarantees stability. Nobody knows exactly what the job market will look like in ten years. Not even in five.

And this brings up another key issue: mental health.

I am not saying that previous generations did not experience pressure, anxiety or uncertainty. Of course they did. But my generation is experiencing a very specific combination: a high cost of living, difficult access to housing, more competitive jobs, social media, constant comparison and artificial intelligence transforming many professions.

That is why taking care of yourself is also part of preparing for the future.

Entrepreneurship, Learning and Adaptation

The world ahead is exciting, but it can also be tough.

Artificial intelligence is going to help us enormously. It can open opportunities, accelerate learning, improve productivity and allow young people to build things that would have been unthinkable before without large teams or big budgets.

But it can also bring difficult changes. Layoffs. Role transformation. Greater pressure to create value. New gaps between those who understand these tools and those who fall behind.

That is why I believe the answer is not fear, but attention. Learning. Testing. Reading. Building judgment. Developing personal projects. Understanding where the market is moving.

And perhaps also changing the way we think about work.

It is no longer only about finding a good job. It is about developing capabilities that allow us to adapt, create value and, if necessary, build our own opportunities.

If this post made you think, I would like to read your perspective. You may agree or disagree. But I believe the interesting part is opening a real conversation about how young people are facing money, work, artificial intelligence and the future.

If you want to go deeper into what else this generation expects from work, I wrote about it in what Gen Z looks for at work.