🦉 The Fast Money Generation

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Welcome to the Collective. It’s time to get off the controllers and into the candlestick charts. Today, we’re discussing money, and Gen Z’s relationship with it. 

Money makes the world turn. But Gen Z’s relationship with it is…peculiar. There is a nihilism when it comes to this generation’s beliefs about our collective financial situation, but also an incredible confidence that, well, we’re all gonna make it.

We discuss these topics further in our podcast with Katrin Kaurov and Aleksandra Medina, releasing tomorrow on YouTube and all podcast platforms. Katrin and Aleksandra are the Co-Founders of Frich, a social finance app for Gen Z that has scaled to 250,000 users. 

We’ve coined the term “The Fast Money Generation” to describe this generation of dreamers. Let’s get to it.

— Antonio DiMeglio & Leon Li

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In today’s world, money moves fast. For Gen Z, a generation raised on smartphones and social media, the concept of wealth has been redefined. Traditional career paths and long-term financial strategies seem outdated, replaced by an obsession with quick returns, side hustles, and high-risk, high-reward investments. Cryptocurrencies surge overnight, Robinhood traders jump on meme stocks, and TikTok gurus dish out financial advice with millions of views. This is the era of fast money, and it’s rewriting the rules of how wealth is pursued and perceived.

In this essay, we will discuss:

• What fast money means for Gen Z’s financial future; 

• How social media has shaped the rise of fast money gurus; and 

• What long-term consequences this new approach to wealth generation may bring.

While this cultural shift may seem risky or unsustainable, it reflects a generation’s desire to carve out their own path in an uncertain world. 

So, how did we get here?

Gen Z is delusionally confident about their finances. 

They grew up watching YouTube videos about investing and have been able to track stocks, crypto, and NFTs from their phones. Many have learned to hustle from a young age, turning hobbies into side gigs. 

But here’s the twist: beneath the bravado of TikTok investors and their followers lies a deep-seated anxiety.

Why? The answer is in the specifics.

Discussing the specific details of finances with friends and family remains a taboo, an irony for a generation that’s otherwise so open about mental health, sexuality, and other once-private topics. 

The mask of social media extends to financial support.

So, how did money slip through the cracks?

This paradox may stem from how deeply connected—and simultaneously disconnected—this generation is. 

Gen Z is always online, bombarded with curated images of wealth and success. Scroll through Instagram, and you’ll see young influencers flashing luxury cars and designer clothes, often suggesting that financial success is just a few clicks away. Yet, behind the screens, many of the same young people struggle to manage day-to-day expenses or don’t fully understand how to budget. The result? Confidence is built on shaky foundations.

In many ways, this dichotomy reflects a generational split from previous ideas about money. Earlier generations often viewed financial success as a slow burn, something you built up over decades. 

Gen Z, by contrast, seems to believe in fast tracks to wealth. They’ve been raised in an era of rapid technological growth, where the gig economy and digital assets promise quick returns. They might think, “Why save slowly when I could make it big on the next crypto wave?”

Beneath the flashy façade, though, this generation is grappling with an economy that demands traditional financial discipline in an increasingly non-traditional world. So, are they genuinely confident? Or is this confidence a front for something much more fragile?