Americans are opening up about how they talk and learn about money this financial literacy month. MarketWatch Guides surveyed 1,000 Americans to understand banking habits across generations, breaking the decades-long taboo. Here’s what a study found.
Getting Financial Advice
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The results below show how respondents get financial advice.
- 40% - family and friends
- 33% - banking institutions
- 30% - online resources
- 27% - financial advisers
- 19% - social media
- 14% - books or print publications
- 10% - podcasts & TV programs
- 5% - radio programs
Family, Friends & Social Media
The results of how each generation gets financial advice vary. 41% of Gen Z get their financial advice from social media, but the most popular source of advice for the generation is friends and family (48%). When it comes to using social media with older generations, for millennials, that number is at 30%, but for Gen X, baby boomers and the silent generation, using social media for advice falls below 10%.
YouTube, Facebook & TikTok
13% of respondents choose YouTube to get their money advice. Facebook was second most popular at 11%, followed by TikTok (10%). By generations, 27% of Gen Zer’s use TikTok. The top platform millennials are going for is YouTube (22%) and Facebook (21%). For Gen Xers and baby boomers, the percentages are in the single digits for each social media platform.
Sources Generations trust
When it comes to the most trusted source, 27% are seeking advice from financial advisors, family and friends (70%) and banking institutions (70%) ties for the second trustworthy source.
Across all generations 28% said they trust social media for financial advice. 52% of Gen Zer’s said they trust social media for advice, with 16% saying they “completely trust” it for this. 38% of millennials, 23% of Gen Xer’s and 13% of baby boomers said they trust social media.
Professors at universities around the country say consumers should consult qualified financial advice. “Younger generations are increasingly turning to social media for financial advice, often following “finfluencers” who provide varying degrees of helpful — and sometimes unhelpful — guidance,” says Shane Enete, Associate Professor of Finance at Biola University. “A more reliable approach is to seek assistance from a trained financial professional.”
Personal Finance Courses
Fewer than one in three of the people who were surveyed (29%) took a personal finance class in high school. Forty-seven percent of Gen Zer’s reported taking a personal finance course in high school, while 33% of millennials said they did. This drops to 25% for Gen X and 20% for baby boomers.
Financial literacy is likely to increase for future generations. The number of students guaranteed to take a personal finance course in high school is projected to rise to about 53% by 2030, according to Next Gen Personal Finance.