--- title: More Than Half of Gen Z Holds Investments, and Most Got Started Before Turning 21 description: Over half of Gen Z is investing, and they're getting started before turning 21, thanks to social media and online trading platforms. authors: - name: Brenden Rearick role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/ bio: Brenden Rearick is a former news reporter at Money with nearly four years of experience covering investing and other personal finance topics. education: University of Pittsburgh, BA at_money_since: 2023 articles: 133 covers: - Investing - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology former_staff: true editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-05-25T17:54:16.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T14:50:48.000Z' section: Investing tags: - Cryptocurrency - News - stocks word_count: 426 canonical: https://money.com/gen-z-start-investing-survey/ 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/). ![Happy person relaxing in beanbag chair with laptop on top of an oversized stack of cash](https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-GenZ-Invested-Early.jpg) Gen Z may be young, but they're already getting ahead on their finances **—** especially when it comes to [investing](https://money.com/best-stock-apps/). A [new report](https://www.cfainstitute.org/-/media/documents/article/industry-research/Gen_Z_and_Investing.pdf) shows that over half of Gen Z Americans hold investments of some kind, and the vast majority of these investors started putting their money to work before they even turned 21. The new report from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and finance non-profit CFA Institute pulls back the curtain on the youngest generation of adults' investing habits. It reveals that 56% of American Gen Zers (who are roughly ages 18 to 25 now) hold at least some form of investment, and that 82% of these investors started before age 21. Here are some of the highlights from the report: - Of the Gen Zers who invest, 55% are primarily invested in [cryptocurrency,](https://money.com/best-crypto-exchanges/) 19% of investing Gen Zers hold *only* cryptocurrency assets, 41% have money in [individual stocks](https://money.com/how-to-buy-stocks/), and 35% invest in [mutual funds](https://money.com/what-are-mutual-funds/). - The average Gen Z investor has about $4,000 sunk into investments. - 25% of Gen Z investors began doing so before turning 18 years old, and 82% began investing before the age of 21. - 41% of Gen Z investors say they began because of "fear of missing out," or [FOMO](https://money.com/home-buyers-regret-buying-hot-market-tips/). - About half of American Gen Z investors said they rely on social media to learn about investing. The most popular ways these young people learn about investing include YouTube, web searches (a la Google) and Instagram. ## What it means The survey shows a fundamental shift in the way young people approach investing. "The Gen Z population is diverse and digitally savvy," Gerri Walsh, president of FINRA, said in the press release. "They are using mobile technology to enter the financial markets in unprecedented numbers and consulting a wide range of information sources as they do so." Indeed, this report shows that this is the first time that a generation looked primarily to social media for guidance in their investing choices. Millennials, who comprised the first generation to grow up with social media, and Gen X investors tend to rely on [professional advice](https://money.com/how-to-choose-a-financial-advisor/) and corporate resources to make their own decisions, per the report. What's more, the advent of ["fee-free"](https://money.com/free-stock-trading-apps-gary-gensler/) [trading platforms](https://money.com/best-online-stock-trading/) like [Robinhood](https://money.com/robinhood-launching-24-hour-weekday-stocks-etfs-trading/) mean Gen Z investors can do all of their trading from the comfort of their homes, without ever needing to meet with a [financial advisor](https://money.com/what-is-a-financial-advisor/). [Why People in Their 20s Aren't Reaching Financial Milestones as Fast as Boomers Did](https://money.com/gen-z-vs-boomers-financial-milestones/) [6 Best Crypto Exchanges of 2023](https://money.com/best-crypto-exchanges/) [Venmo Just Launched Accounts for Teenagers](https://money.com/venmo-teen-accounts-parental-controls/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-start-investing-survey/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Investments", "item": "https://money.com/investments/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "More Than Half of Gen Z Holds Investments, and Most Got Started Before Turning 21" } ] }, { "@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-start-investing-survey/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gen-z-start-investing-survey/", "name": "More Than Half of Gen Z Holds Investments, and Most Got Started Before Turning 21", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-05-25T17:54:16.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-start-investing-survey/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-start-investing-survey/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T14:50:48.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "More Than Half of Gen Z Holds Investments, and Most Got Started Before Turning 21", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-GenZ-Invested-Early.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-GenZ-Invested-Early" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brenden Rearick", "url": "https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/#author", "description": "Brenden Rearick is a former news reporter at Money with nearly four years of experience covering investing and other personal finance topics.\r\n\r\n", "email": "brenden.rearick@money.com", "alumniOf": "University of Pittsburgh, BA" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-05-25T17:54:16.000Z", "description": "Over half of Gen Z is investing, and they're getting started before turning 21, thanks to social media and online trading platforms.", "abstract": "Over half of Gen Z is investing, and they're getting started before turning 21, thanks to social media and online trading platforms.", "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-start-investing-survey/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-01-10T14:50:48.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 426, "keywords": [ "Cryptocurrency", "News", "stocks" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Investment", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investment" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Generation Z", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z" ] } ] } ] } ```