--- title: Gen Z and Millennial Investors Are Opening More IRAs — Even as Stocks Struggle description: A new Fidelity report shows a big increase in Gen Z and millennial investors opening IRAs, despite a downturn for the stock market. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true published: '2022-11-21T15:26:01.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T12:59:54.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - News word_count: 356 canonical: https://money.com/gen-z-millennials-open-more-iras/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo Illustration of a young woman](https://img.money.com/2022/11/News-Gen-Z-Millennials-Open-IRA.jpg?crop=0px%2C40px%2C2402px%2C1351px&quality=85) Millennials and Gen Z are getting serious about saving for retirement — and not just with their [401(k)](https://money.com/what-is-a-401k-rollover/) plans. New data released by Fidelity shows that the number of [IRA accounts](https://money.com/what-is-an-ira/) among Gen Z investors rose 83% between the third quarter of last year and the third quarter of 2022. The number of millennial IRA accounts rose 25%, while the number of IRA accounts among investors of all ages rose 11%. An IRA, or individual retirement account, is a tax-advantaged way to save money for retirement. Many people use them in addition to an [employer-sponsored retirement](https://money.com/ira-vs-401k-both-benefits/) plan like a 401(k) or 403(b). With a traditional IRA, you invest pre-tax money that grows now, and your tax bill comes when you withdraw the funds in retirement. With a [Roth IRA](https://money.com/what-is-a-roth-ira/), you pay taxes upfront and your investments grow tax-free. The growth in new IRA accounts over the past year happened despite the fact that average IRA balances decreased nearly 25% to $101,900, Fidelity found. Those losses aren't too surprising given how stocks have been performing: The [S&P 500 index](https://money.com/how-to-invest-in-sp500/) is down more 17.5% so far this year. Savings rates for 401(k)s among all age groups held steady over the last year, and actually ticked up (from 10% to 10.3%) for members of Gen Z. Average 401(k) balances rose by 1.2% for Gen Z investors, too. The data signals that younger generations are doing exactly what experts recommend by continuing to invest despite a challenging market. “Retirement savers have wisely chosen to avoid the drama,” Kevin Barry, president of Workplace Investing at Fidelity Investments, said in a [news release](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221117005107/en/Fidelity%C2%AE-Q3-2022-Retirement-Analysis-Despite-Continued-Volatility-Retirement-Fundamentals-Remain-Sound), referring to the [big swings](https://money.com/stock-market-volatility-investing-mistakes/) in the stock market over the past year. “This is important,” he added, “because one of the most essential aspects of a sound retirement savings strategy is contributing enough consistently — in up markets, down markets, and sideways markets — to help reach your goals.” ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-millennials-open-more-iras/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adults", "item": "https://money.com/adults/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Gen Z and Millennial Investors Are Opening More IRAs — Even as Stocks Struggle" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-millennials-open-more-iras/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gen-z-millennials-open-more-iras/", "name": "Gen Z and Millennial Investors Are Opening More IRAs — Even as Stocks Struggle", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-11-21T15:26:01.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-millennials-open-more-iras/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-millennials-open-more-iras/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T12:59:54.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Gen Z and Millennial Investors Are Opening More IRAs — Even as Stocks Struggle", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/11/News-Gen-Z-Millennials-Open-IRA.jpg?crop=0px%2C40px%2C2402px%2C1351px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Gen-Z-Millennials-Open-IRA" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Hansen", "url": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/#author", "description": "Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. 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