The traditional retirement timeline has been officially retired.
Generation Z is rewriting the entire rulebook for work, money, and retirement. Having witnessed the financial struggles of their Millennial siblings and their Boomer parents, they are approaching their finances with a unique and powerful combination of cynicism and ambition. A startling new survey from 2025 reveals that an overwhelming 94% of them are not planning to work until the traditional retirement age of 65.
Their goal is to be financially “set” much, much earlier in life, and they are using a completely new playbook to make it happen.
1. They are starting to invest from their very first paycheck.
The single biggest advantage that Gen Z has is time, and they are not wasting it. Thanks to commission-free trading apps like Robinhood and the ability to buy fractional shares, they are starting to invest with their very first paychecks from their teenage, part-time jobs. They have a deep, intuitive understanding of the power of compound growth.
They are not waiting until their 30s to start thinking about retirement, as many previous generations did. They are starting in their teens and early 20s, a massive head start that will have a profound impact on their future wealth.
2. A high savings rate is their most important financial metric.
Influenced by the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement, Gen Z is intensely focused on their savings rate, the percentage of their income that they are saving and investing. They understand that a high savings rate is the single most powerful lever they can pull to accelerate their journey to financial independence. They are willing to make significant lifestyle sacrifices to achieve this.
They will live with multiple roommates, drive an old car, and cook at home, all in the service of being able to save 30%, 40%, or even 50% of their income.
3. They are masters of the “side hustle” economy.
Gen Z does not think in terms of a single career; they think in terms of multiple income streams. They are the ultimate side hustlers, using their digital native skills to monetize their hobbies and their free time. They will have a 9-to-5 job, but they will also be selling vintage clothes on Depop, managing a social media account for a small business, or streaming on Twitch.
This is not just about making extra money; it is a core financial strategy of income diversification, a way to build wealth faster and to protect themselves from the instability of a single job.
4. They are “job hopping” to get massive raises.
Gen Z has absolutely no loyalty to their corporate employers, and for good reason. They have learned that the most effective way to get a significant pay raise is not to wait for a small, annual cost-of-living adjustment, but to change jobs. They are masters of the strategic job hop, frequently changing companies every one to two years to secure a 15-20% pay bump each time.
This aggressive approach to career management is one of the fastest ways they are increasing their income and, in turn, their savings rate, a key part of their early retirement playbook.
5. They are embracing the strategy of “house hacking”.
For a generation that has been largely priced out of the traditional housing market, “house hacking” has become a popular and ingenious workaround. The strategy involves buying a small, multi-unit property, like a duplex or a triplex, living in one of the units, and renting out the others. The rental income from the other units is then used to cover most or all of the mortgage payment.
This allows them to effectively live for free and to start building equity in a valuable asset, a powerful hack that turns their biggest expense into an income-producing machine.
6. They are rejecting “lifestyle creep” at all costs.
A common financial trap is “lifestyle creep,” the tendency to increase your spending as your income rises. Gen Z is actively fighting against this. When they get a raise or a promotion, their first instinct is not to upgrade their car or their apartment, but to increase their automatic transfer to their investment account.
They are making a conscious effort to keep their lifestyle relatively modest, even as their income grows. This allows them to dramatically accelerate their savings rate and to reach their financial goals much faster than if they were constantly upgrading their standard of living.
7. They are getting their financial education from “FinTok”.
Gen Z is not getting their financial advice from a stuffy old man in a suit; they are getting it from their peers on social media platforms like TikTok, in a subculture known as “FinTok.” They are consuming a huge amount of short, engaging video content about complex financial topics, from index fund investing and Roth IRAs to the nuances of different credit cards.
While the quality of this advice can be mixed, it has made them arguably the most financially literate generation in history at such a young age, and it has given them the confidence to take control of their own financial futures.
8. Their definition of “retirement” is different.
When Gen Z says they want to be “set” by age 55, they don’t necessarily mean that they plan to stop working and play golf for the rest of their lives. For them, financial independence is not about a permanent vacation; it is about having the freedom to work on their own terms.
Their goal is to reach a point where they no longer have to work for a paycheck to survive. This will give them the freedom to pursue a passion project, to start their own business, or to work a part-time, low-stress job that they genuinely enjoy, a redefinition of the traditional retirement dream.
9. They are using technology to automate their financial lives.
Gen Z is a generation of digital natives, and they are using technology to automate every aspect of their financial lives. They use budgeting apps that automatically track their spending, they set up automatic transfers to their investment accounts, and they use robo-advisors to manage their portfolios for them at a very low cost. They have built a financial system that runs in the background.
This high level of automation removes the human emotion and the willpower that is often required for good financial habits. It is a smart and efficient way to ensure that they are always making progress toward their goals.