Updated
Updated · InvestmentNews · Aug 12
Wealth Enhancement Finds 53% Say Kids Are Less Money-Ready Despite New Financial Tools
Updated
Updated · InvestmentNews · Aug 12

Wealth Enhancement Finds 53% Say Kids Are Less Money-Ready Despite New Financial Tools

3 articles · Updated · InvestmentNews · Aug 12

Summary

  • 53% of U.S. parents and grandparents told Wealth Enhancement that children today are less prepared to manage money, even with investment apps, digital banking and custodial accounts widely available.
  • 61% of grandparents held that view versus 46% of parents, while Wealth Enhancement said the convenience of tap-and-click finance can weaken lessons about cash, work and the value of money.
  • 56% cited avoiding impulse spending as the hardest lesson to teach, followed by budgeting at 52%, understanding earned income at 50% and saving or delayed gratification at 49%.
  • 53% said they have never opened an investment account for a child, though 22% of those who have did so before the child's first birthday.
  • For advisors, the findings point to a growing opening to add family money conversations, age-appropriate accounts and financial-literacy planning to broader intergenerational wealth-transfer work.

Insights

Are fintech apps destroying children's financial literacy, or are older generations simply misunderstanding how digital natives manage modern wealth?
With new tools like Trump Accounts available, why are over half of American families still failing to invest early for their children?
If digital banking makes money invisible, how can parents recreate the psychological friction of cash to stop impulse spending in youth?