The generation identified by Bank of America as the world's wealthiest by 2035 is already beginning to reshape the investment landscape in Brazil. More digitally savvy, more open to risk, and less dependent on savings accounts, Generation Z , aged 16 to 29, invests proportionally more in cryptocurrencies, stocks, funds, and private credit than the average population.
Among Generation Z, 8% say they invest in cryptocurrencies, double the national average of 4%, according to data from Anbima. In the stock market, 4% of young people say they invest, also double the overall average. In investment funds, the share reaches 8%, compared to 5% of the population, while 10% of Generation Z have investments in private bonds compared to 7% of the Brazilian population.
“Generation Z grew up in a digital environment, with access to a lot of information and a much wider range of products than other age groups. This is reflected in more diverse choices, but also in a behavior of testing, learning and making financial decisions more autonomously,” says Marcelo Billi, Superintendent of Sustainability, Innovation and Education at Anbima, in an interview with NeoFeed .
This behavior also appears in information consumption. Proportionally, young people consume more content about investments across different channels than other generations—including newspapers, online portals, YouTube, Instagram, search engines, and podcasts. The exceptions are TV and radio, where the relative presence of Generation Z is lower.
Despite their familiarity with financial products and greater access to information, Generation Z's willingness to take more risks coexists with low adoption of private pension plans and increased exposure to online gambling.
Only 1% of Generation Z invests in private pension plans, half the national average, while the share of young people who invest in cryptocurrencies is eight times higher and that of those who gamble online is 27 times higher — the highest among generations.
For Billi, this exposure raises a red flag. “There is, especially among younger men, a notion of investing as a game. They day trade and monitor the prices of crypto assets or mini-futures contracts 24 hours a day, in an attempt to make a lot of money in a short time,” he says.
Generation Z is also the group that most frequently reports not yet having started saving for retirement, but intends to. 66% of young people are in this situation, higher than millennials, at 58%.
Billi argues that the low level of retirement savings among young people is related to the life cycle of Generation Z itself, since part of this demographic is still entering the job market. However, according to him, even among those who say they are already preparing for the future, private pension plans are rarely considered.
“They mention other things: stocks, government bonds, or a house to rent. But they don’t talk about retirement savings. Retirement savings products face this reputational liability from part of the population, and also from younger people, of being interpreted as a product that is not suitable, that does not yield returns, or that has high fees,” says Billi.
This disconnect from social security may also be linked to a shift in how young people view work and retirement. According to Billi, there is a mindset more associated with informality, entrepreneurship, and the desire to not depend on formal employment contracts.
“There’s a new mentality that focuses heavily on the informality of the Brazilian economy and makes young people think about entrepreneurship, about not being a CLT employee,” he says. “With the decline of formal work, public instruments of social security, welfare, and support are being seen as something they won’t be able to count on in the future.”
Anbima is now trying to deepen this diagnosis in a new qualitative study on longevity. The idea, says Billi, is to understand the mindset of younger people not only in relation to retirement, but also to planning for a longer life. "We are going to live much longer, which is a good thing, but it generates challenges."
