Some of today's youngest Americans are saddled with all kinds of fears about their financial futures, according to TD Ameritrade's latest survey of "Generation Z" sentiment.
The age group (15 to 24) is understandably worried about finding a job in the immediate future, though their perspective on the job market has improved from last year's survey. In 2013, 34 percent said unemployment was their biggest concern. This year, that number dropped to 25 percent, as graduates of the class of 2014 have a better time finding work.
But as the job market for younger Americans slowly improves, their fear for their financial future remains. Almost half of Gen Zers (44 percent) fear that Social Security will be depleted by the time they retire.
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The same percentage of respondents feels burdened by the student loans they carry.
The specter of mounting student loan debt, however, isn't deterring Generation Z from going to college, or for that matter, their hope to go to grad school. This year, 60 percent said a college degree is very important to their future financial success, up from 54 percent the year before.
Maybe the younger Gen Zers would benefit from the perspective of their older millennial counterparts, who tend to be ambivalent on whether the money they spent, and debt they carry, to attend college was worth it.
Less than half of older Gen Yers say college is very important (47 percent), and only about half of those who went to college say their education was worth the money spent.
Regardless, younger Gen Zers — those still in high school — have plenty of ambition to go to college in spite of rising tuition costs. They also have what appears to be irrationally high expectations of the scholarship and grant funding available to help them go.
More than two-thirds (65 percent) are counting on some kind of assistance. But only 50 percent of Gen Yers actually benefited from access to scholarships and grants.
The survey shows Generation Z has some strong instincts when it comes to saving, but they're not ready to start setting aside for retirement. On average, they believe the right age to start saving for retirement is 27.
Only 17 percent believe to best way to plan for retirement is through the stock market, while 47 percent say the best way to prepare is via a savings account, indicating an investment education gap that employers could step in and fill.
Also read: Millennials can't seem to stop working
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
