Gen Z may be decades away from retirement, but the youngest generation in the workforce is already the most worried that AI could derail their financial future.
Some 51% of Gen Z now believe AI is threatening their ability to save for retirement, 11 percentage points higher than the national average, according to a new survey by TIAA focused on “Retirement in the Age of AI and GLP-1s.”
Much of that anxiety centers on how the technology could impact their career and earning power: 42% of the youngest workers are “extremely” or “very” concerned that AI could disrupt their career or reduce their earning potential before retirement, as compared to 33% of millennials and 28% of Gen Xers and boomers.
As business leaders increasingly warn that AI will bring major disruptions, including job losses, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the technology is adding to Gen Z’s concerns about their careers. And while youth unemployment has not dramatically spiked yet, executives like TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett have ultimately warned that young workers who fail to adapt to AI could find themselves at a disadvantage.
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries at a pace that is breathtaking,” Duckett told graduates of Florida A&M University earlier this year. “The worldwide economic landscape is shifting right in front of us. Institutions that once felt permanent are being challenged and reimagined. Industries, vocations, and jobs that once seemed reliable may not be the havens they once were.”
AI could help people live longer—but Gen Zers are worried they’ll run out of money
One of the biggest promises of AI is that it could usher in a golden age of scientific discovery, helping researchers develop new treatments for cancer and other major diseases and ultimately allowing people to live longer, healthier lives.
But living longer presents a financial tradeoff: The more years people spend in retirement, the more money they need to make their 401(k)s last.
Gen Zers are already worried about that possibility: Some 59% say they fear they will withdraw too much from their retirement savings and run out of money before they die, compared with 47% of millennials and 54% of Gen X and baby boomers. And 47% of Gen Zers say traditional retirement planning does not sufficiently account for longer life spans, according to TIAA.
That’s putting even more pressure on young workers to start saving early. The longer money has to compound, the more time it has to grow—and the less young workers may ultimately need to set aside each year to build a sufficient nest egg.
It could also mean that some workers will need to rethink when they retire. As people live longer, working even a few additional years can give retirement savings more time to grow while shortening the period they need to fund.
Duckett’s advice for Gen Z: Don’t wait to start saving
In some ways, Gen Z’s concern about retirement could be a good thing: It may push young workers to start thinking about their financial future earlier.
But despite any anxiety, Duckett said, young people have more power over their future than they might think.
“I just want to remind this next generation, if you go back 250 years and you look at where we [America] are today, there is no better day that I want to be in than today,” Duckett told Fortune earlier this year. “The future is always brighter because we get to decide.”
Those decisions, she advised, should start with your very first paycheck.
“Especially for young people, retirement seems so far away, but there’s a hack,” Duckett said. “The hack is, first job, first dollar.
“The first thing I tell young people is, your very first job, max out before you get the check, because once you get it, you will find ways to spend it,” she added, emphasizing the “power of compounding: $1 today is worth more than $1 tomorrow…You want to make sure you take full advantage of that match.”
It’s advice Duckett followed herself when she landed her first job at Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage finance company, in the 1990s. She immediately began maximizing her 401(k) contributions.
Retirement savings, however, shouldn’t come at the expense of basic financial security, Duckett added.
“For young people, max out understanding that you have to save to invest…Max out on your retirement, have your rainy-day fund to make sure that you can afford the flat tire and all the basic things that life will give you,” Duckett said. “Then you can start investing.”
Written by Preston Fore for Fortune as “Despite being decades away from retirement, Gen Z is the most worried that AI will derail their financial future—51% fear it will cut their nest egg” and republished legally through syndication agreement with Reuters Connect.
