💰 What If Retirement Isn't the Dream?

The Number of Investors Saving for Retirement Is Going Down, More than One-Third of Millennials and Gen Z Invest In Crypto, Plus – I Made Fun of Vlad Tenev's Outfit and He "Liked" It

Author

Katie Perry
March 29, 2025

Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture three times a week. Subscribe and tell me what you want to hear about next! - KP

The Big Story: I Read the 60-Page Report on Retail Investors (You’re Welcome)

I spent my Friday night reading the Global Retail Investor Outlook, a 65-page beast of a report co-authored by the World Economic Forum, Boston Consulting Group, and Robinhood. It’s a fascinating follow-up to the WEF’s last report, published in 2022, that sheds light on how investor habits shifted in just two short years.

If you don’t have time to read the full thing, consider this your Cliff’s Notes. The era of retail investing isn’t just alive and well – it’s evolving … fast. People are investing earlier, doing it more frequently, and leaning into new asset classes like crypto and alternatives. The vibe is part post-meme-stock reckoning, part long-term generational shift.

Here are some of the biggest themes that stood out to me:

Young Investors Are Showing Up Earlier — Way Earlier

One of the clearest shifts is the age of entry into the public markets. 17% of Gen Z started learning about investing before college. That’s more than double the rate of Millennials (8%) and way higher than Gen X (6%) and Boomers (5%).

58% of Gen Z say they learned about investing before entering the workforce, compared to just 21% of Boomers.

Gen Z and Millennials are also twice as confident in managing their own investments compared to Boomers.

Basically, if you're Gen Z, you're entering the game earlier, more confidently, and more likely to self-educate — sometimes through traditional means, but often not.

From Retirement Goals to YOLO Mindsets

In 2022, more people were saying, “I’m investing for retirement.” Fast-forward to 2024, and short-term goals have taken the spotlight. The share of people saving for retirement actually dropped from 48% in 2022 to 42% in 2024.

People citing travel and leisure as their investment motivation jumped from 27% to 45%!

Needing money for an emergency saw a big increase too: 41% to 51%.

This shift signals a broader trend toward flexibility, optionality, and financial freedom now vs. exclusively in 30 years. Howard Lindzon has coined this trend as the “degen economy,” but you might also chalk it up to pragmatic realism. Either way, if money is a tool, younger investors have different uses for it.

Retail Investing Is Now a Habit, Not a Hobby

The post-COVID boom in investing wasn’t a fluke — it was a turning point, and we’re not going back. 52% of investors adjust their portfolios at least once a month. 22% do it weekly.

Retail investing isn’t going anywhere. It’s set to make up 61% of global assets under management by 2030, and drive 67% of wealth management industry revenue.

The old model of wealth management being institution-first is officially getting flipped (see chart below). It’s no surprise that Robinhood announced wealth management services at its Gold event last week. $HOOD ( ▲ 7.82% )  

Crypto, Alternatives, and the Risk Curve

Risk appetite is no longer a fringe thing; it’s generational and, in some cases, mainstream.

There’s a clear crypto cliff: 35% of Gen Z and 38% of Millennials invest in crypto, compared to just 8% of Boomers. Among crypto holders, 59% have more than a third of their portfolios in it. Locked. In.

Gen Z is slightly more likely than Millennials to invest in alternative assets (22% vs. 20%), which is defined in this report as assets not stocks, bonds, and cryptos. (Wealthier investors across the board are 50% more likely to invest in non-crypto alts.)

Advice is Social and Tech-Enabled

Where people get their investing advice has shifted. Spoiler: It’s not all coming from financial advisors. 57% of Gen Z and Millennials say they trust recommendations from online communities, compared to just 20% of Boomers.

37% of Gen Z and Millennials say they learn from friends and family; 23% rely on social media. And 28% of all investors are already turning to AI tools for guidance.

The takeaway? People want relatability. They want peer-driven, accessible info, especially if they didn’t grow up talking about money at the dinner table.

So, Why Isn’t Everyone Investing?

Interestingly, it’s less about money and more about mindset.

The report found that fear of losing money — even if it’s just in the short term — is the number one reason people hold back from investing, especially in the mass market segment. While only 10% of high-net-worth individuals are uncomfortable with the idea of losing money, that number jumps to 34% for everyday investors. Despite low barriers to entry (thank you, fractional shares), psychology still plays a major role in participation.

Bottom line? As we’ve all experienced anecdotally, retail investing is no longer a trend — it’s a permanent cultural fixture.

Read the full report here. Then casually drop “$124 trillion wealth transfer by 2048” into your brunch conversation.

Daily Rip Live Recap: Why CEOs Are Dressing ‘Gen Z,’ Postmates for Cash, and Our Favorite Baseball Stadium Foods

Every weekday, Shay Boloor and I run down the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live. Here’s what we recently covered on the show:

  • We made fun of Vlad Tenev’s outfit, and then he liked it on X! On the show, Shay and I chatted about the “CEO glow up” and why it’s not just about style choices. Modern CEOs are leaning into new media channels to reach retail investors, with companies like Robinhood, Coinbase, Palantir, Shopify, and Affirm rewriting the traditional investor relations playbook. My client, Stakeholder Labs, has been PREACHING this for over a year, and people are finally starting to take notice! | Watch clip $HOOD ( ▲ 7.82% )  $COIN ( ▲ 4.66% )  $PLTR ( ▲ 6.9% )  $SHOP ( ▲ 4.57% )  $AFRM ( ▲ 2.9% )  

  • Speaking of Robinhood, they’re kind of in their bag right now. The company announced a ton of new stuff at their Gold event this week, including but not limited to an AI research tool, private wealth management services, and new banking products — like Postmates for cash delivery? It feels like Robinhood, with its Gold subscription tier ($5/mo), is vying to be the Amazon for virtually any kind of financial transaction. $AMZN ( ▲ 3.29% )  

  • Car tariffs have asymmetrical impacts on automakers. Scroll down for the chart — but TL;DR, companies like Rivian and especially Tesla, who manufacture 100% of their vehicles in the USA, will be less impacted by tariffs than players like GM, Ford, and Stellantis, each of which manufacture a significant amount of their vehicles outside of the U.S. That said, even Rivian and Tesla will feel some short-term pain — but as Shay points out, perhaps people like Elon Musk don’t care because they are already locked in on a future vision that centers on robotics and AI, and not OEM. BTW, Trump denied that Musk had anything to do with the tariff decision … sure, Jan! $TSLA ( ▲ 3.5% )  $RIVN ( ▲ 2.46% )  $F ( ▲ 2.86% )  $GM ( ▲ 2.27% )  $STLA ( ▲ 4.36% )  

  • Inflation came in hotter than expected, and the market did NOT like this. The sell-off accelerated on Friday as a new inflation report came in worse than anticipated. $DJI ( ▲ 1.23% )  $SPY ( ▲ 2.11% )  $QQQ ( ▲ 2.81% )  

  • Baseball is back, baby. Shay talks about his Dodger-dog every three inning habit (ew), and I wax on about the incredible economics of Yankee stadium’s $25 dollar bucket of tendies and fries.

Hear Shay and I yap about the markets every weekday at 9 a.m. ET on X (@stocktwits), YouTube, LinkedIn, or in your Stocktwits app. Follow me there — I’m @stocktwitsKP!

Now Here’s a Chart

In case you’ve been under a rock this week, a hot new tariff has entered the villa! That’s right — soon, there will be a 25% tariff on all cars manufactured outside of the U.S. This could end up being even worse, depending on what reciprocal tariffs we see next week.

Here’s who’s getting screwed the most (and least), via Axios.

Reading List

🎧 Now playing: It will be 82 degrees in NYC today! Go outside, let that sun hit your face, and listen to Joe Cocker’s incredible cover of the Beatles’ “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.” ☀️

Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.