Help Young Adults Build Financial Confidence in an Age of Money Anxiety

• Gen Z faces a constant stream of financial messages that can create pressure, confusion, and comparison
• Core planning fundamentals—such as cash flow, workplace benefits, budgeting, and investing basics—can help young adults build confidence
• Families, mentors, and trusted advisors can play an important role in helping the next generation make informed, values-based financial decisions

The Generation (Gen) Z population—those born between 1997 and 2012—is the first to never know a world without the internet. They are navigating early adulthood while receiving nonstop information. Social feeds, podcasts, influencers, and headlines offer a constant stream of advice about careers, investing, budgeting, lifestyle choices, health care, and what it means to be “doing well.”

Often described as self-driven, entrepreneurial, and pragmatic,¹ Gen Z’ers can find access to be empowering, but the volume and speed of that advice can also create confusion, comparison, and anxiety. Rather than leading to greater clarity, the never-ending noise can amplify the pressure to make every financial choice perfectly, quickly, and publicly. And the pressure is compounded by real challenges, including housing affordability, student debt, rising living costs, shifting career paths, and a comparison culture shaped by digital platforms.

Let’s take a closer look at the implications of constant financial information—and how families, mentors, and advisors can help translate information into judgment, and judgment into a practical framework for building confidence, resilience, and long-term wealth.

Three themes have been identified that drive much of Gen Z’s financial anxiety. Each one can make wealth building feel more urgent, confusing, and emotionally charged than it needs to be.

One common narrative on social media downplays the benefits of a traditional career path and elevates risk-taking and the promise of easy money, making measured progress seem inadequate. This narrower view of entrepreneurship is often framed as a side hustle—from online resale and freelance work to monetizing creative hobbies or social media content—that should be pursued for passion, extra income, or proof of ambition.

The Gen Z entrepreneurial spirit is valuable. But when every hobby is expected to become income producing, young adults may feel they’re falling behind if they are not monetizing their free time. A healthier question is: How can they build wealth through their career, savings habits, benefits, and long-term financial decisions?

Workplace benefits can be an important part of that answer. They are a largely invisible form of compensation. A company match on a 401(k) contribution, access to health, disability, and life insurance, and the ability to save into a health savings account or flexible spending account can meaningfully support financial security when life becomes complicated.

Predictable cash flow is also a powerful wealth-building tool. It can make it easier to automate savings, evaluate how much to invest, build an emergency reserve, and plan for future milestones. Families and advisors can help by encouraging young adults to look beyond income alone and understand the full value of compensation, discipline, and time.

On social media, some catchphrases are meant to be playful—for example, “girl math” or “boy math” to justify impulse spending. Other trends, such as “no-spend” challenges, may create a mindset that mistakes budgeting for deprivation rather than decision-making. Both can contribute to unhealthy financial behaviors because they reduce money management to a gimmick, a source of guilt, or a performance.

In reality, budgeting is a practical exercise in understanding cash inflow, required expenses, discretionary spending, savings, and investment priorities. It helps identify how much can be allocated to essentials, such as housing, transportation, and insurance, and how much can support goals, such as travel, emergency savings, or long-term investing.

By setting short-, medium-, and long-term goals, young adults can create a realistic, values-based budget that supports financial health without removing the possibility of enjoyment along the way. The goal is not restriction for its own sake; it is clarity, choice, and alignment between spending and priorities.

Online content can be helpful for education, but it may also be incomplete, oversimplified, or disconnected from a person’s broader financial life. There is a meaningful difference between accessing financial information and understanding how to apply it. Evaluating what is relevant, reliable, and appropriate for a specific situation can be complex—particularly as income, investments, taxes, debt, insurance, estate planning, and family goals begin to intersect.

Many Gen Z investors approach financial advisors with skepticism and due diligence, which can be healthy. Asking about credentials, fees, and fiduciary responsibilities is smart. A trusted advisor can complement what young adults learn online, help them evaluate what is relevant to their own circumstances, and support a financial life rooted in stability, security, and personal purpose. Advisors can also help educate and coach young adults, introduce new ideas, and keep them aligned with their financial goals over time.

For families with more complex wealth, that guidance can also support conversations about investing, philanthropy, estate planning, family governance, and responsible stewardship. In that sense, advice is not about replacing independence; it is about giving young adults a clearer way to make informed decisions.

One of the most valuable things families, mentors, and advisors can do is help young adults model good money habits and establish a foundation that supports confident decision-making. That foundation does not require having every answer. It begins with open conversations, trusted guidance, sound habits, and a plan flexible enough to evolve as life, markets, and personal goals change.

With the right guidance, Gen Z can begin to quiet the noise and focus on the financial building blocks that matter most: understanding cash flow and budgeting, making use of workplace benefits, building emergency savings, learning investing basics, and asking questions before acting on advice found online.

Confidence often grows when young adults have a place to ask questions, pressure-test assumptions, and understand how today’s choices fit into a longer-term plan. 

¹ Roberta Katz, “What to Know About Gen Z,” Stanford Report, January 11, 2022. 

A version of this article was published in Kiplinger on July 17, 2026

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the sale of any financial product or service. It is not designed or intended to provide financial, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice since such advice always requires consideration of individual circumstances. If professional advice is needed, the services of a professional advisor should be sought.

Note that tax, estate planning, and financial strategies require consideration for suitability of the individual, business, or investor, and there is no assurance that any strategy will be successful.

Wilmington Trust is not authorized to and does not provide legal or tax advice. Our advice and recommendations provided to you are illustrative only and subject to the opinions and advice of your own attorney, tax advisor, or other professional advisor.

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