Gen Z are getting a bad rap when it comes to investing. Even though huge numbers of the next gen took the pandemic as an opportunity to save money and learn about investing and finance, the trajectory for young peoples investments isn't looking so positive.

Gen Z Investing Habits 💹

Whilst it’s always a positive that young people are taking time to learn about investing, it appears many of them are looking to “get rich quick” by investing for the short-term, as found in a study by Barclays.

Nearly half (49%) of those aged 18-24 plan to only invest money for 2-5 years. 21% say they are investing to ‘take advantage of the market’ and 16% plan to ‘play the markets’ to make fast profits.

According to this same study, the past year has seen Gen Z pick up investing habits that are traditionally seen as a bad idea. For example, Gen Z reports checking their portfolio often, many are placing trades more frequently, and some plan to play the market to make fast profits.

Where has this obsession with getting rich quick come from? 🤔

As with most things, we can probably blame the internet. Our brains are naturally wired to seek out instant gratification where possible - this is pretty much in our DNA – and with the rise of social media, this natural desire has only been heightened.

TikTok alone operates on providing regular dopamine hits to the user’s brain, which causes a type of addiction. And aside from TikTok, there’s not many instances where Gen Z have to wait very long. Just think Amazon same-day delivery, food delivery services, and it goes without saying that this generation rarely has to wait for a letter in the post.

We’re essentially just really used to getting what we want, and getting it fast. So, why would it be any different when it comes to investing? Traditional investing is a very long game, and impatience probably won't serve you well in building wealth over the long-term.

What can we do about it? ✏️

There's not much we can do about people wanting instant gratification, that isn't likely to change. But we can work on educating young people towards making more sensible investments.

One option is to simply wait for young investors to receive the bad news that their investments haven't been as fruitful as they'd hoped – experience often proves to be the best teacher.

Another way to do this is by speaking to young people in their native space and language, which right now, is online short-form video. Instead of expecting young people to be content with trawling through hours of written guides to get reliable information, we're making easy, digestible, fun short-form content with Zeed. Our videos are all totally fact-checked so, unlike TikTok, you know you're getting reliable and trustworthy information, created by experts.

In the same breath, with Zeed, you still get the instant gratification of a quick fix of information, just like TikTok. So you don't need to wait around to have your investing questions answered.

Hopefully, with a bit of time and learning, we'll start to see young people taking a more cautious approach to investing where necessary, whilst still keeping it fun. After all, making informed decisions around investing doesn't need to be boring, we just want everyone to make the most out of their money.