Cleo’s 2024 AI & Money Report

Young Americans are saving more than you think, and they're using AI to do it

You’ve seen it on TikTok, heard it from your friends, and maybe even wondered if you’re doing it too: ‘doom spending,’ where a person spends large sums of money to cope with economic and money stress, and ‘soft saving,’ the act of putting more money towards the present than future and prioritizing your current needs over money needed in the future, have been trending for months.

Despite the buzz around these trends, the truth is that Gen Z are more focused on saving money than ever before with the help of AI tools that offer personalized budgeting, automated savings and investment management, predictive analytics to prevent overspending, bill tracking, and overall financial guidance. 

We surveyed 750 U.S. Gen Z aged 16-27 on their attitudes towards saving and how they think about money. Let’s take a look at key findings from the other side of the coin.

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Gen Z aren’t spending their money carelessly, they’re actually saving for retirement

• 18-24 is the sweet spot for saving: More than half of respondents (57 percent) are saving as early as 18-24, with a third starting to save under the age of 18. We like to call them ‘Zavers’ — Gen Z savers defying stereotypes. 

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• Regular saving is more common than you think (and not for short-term rewards): 73 percent of respondents are saving regularly, with 40 percent saving weekly or monthly, and about half are using these savings for long-term purchases like a car (51 percent) or a home (43 percent). 

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• There’s a growing distaste for doom spending discourse: 80 percent of respondents felt that ‘doom spending’ and ‘soft saving’ weren’t fully accurate representations of their money habits, with nearly half of the respondents (43 percent) not identifying with the act of doom spending at all. 

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• Wanderlust isn’t in, inflation is: 79 percent of respondents changed their spending habits in the last one to two years due to inflation, with two thirds (67 percent) now prioritizing food, followed by travel, entertainment, electronics, fashion/beauty, and personal fitness (in that order).

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Want to create a savings habit?

Cleo’s AI-powered ‘Doom Saving Calculator’ offers personalized saving insights, like how much you could be setting aside each day/month and how much a certain amount might be worth in a year with specific APY. Simply type “doomsaving” into the app and Cleo’s big LLM brain will do the rest.  

Tell us whether you are doom spending or soft saving on Instagram or Twitter @meetcleo.

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Methodology: Our findings are from 750 Americans aged 16 to 27 surveyed in March 2024.

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Big love. Cleo 💙

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