In a recent survey, 41 per cent of Gen Z said they are motivated to retire well before age 55 to pursue ambitions such as small business, non-profit work or creative pursuits.GETTY IMAGES
While retirement is still far off, Leona Ding is already planning for it.
Ms. Ding, 23, is a recent graduate from Carleton University’s media production and design program. While working through school, she managed to put aside nearly half her paycheques. That money was divided carefully: some for emergencies, some for short-term goals and travel, and some for the “way, way, way future Leona, who one day hopes to retire without needing to work when I’m significantly older,” she says.
She’s currently working in France as an English-language assistant. While it’s an exciting adventure, Ms. Ding says it also means she’s saving less than she did during her school years.
“It’s a really scary time to be looking for work, especially when you’re young,” she says. And though she doesn’t have “super concrete goal posts” for retirement, she says “it’s something I keep in mind.”
There’s some evidence that Gen Z is better at saving than previous generations. Recent analysis of The National Payroll Institute’s 2025 Annual Survey of Working Canadians by Canada’s Financial Wellness Lab found that compared to older generations, Gen Z workers are saving an average of 11 per cent of each pay cheque, a higher proportion than any other generation. (Generation X and boomers saved an average of eight per cent and millennials nine per cent of each paycheque.) Thirty per cent of Gen Z respondents in the survey reported saving $10,000 or more in the past year.
According to a 2024 survey from TD Bank, 68 per cent of Gen Zers consistently invest annually – a higher percentage than any other demographic in that survey.
That motivation to save stems partly from the economic volatility that Gen Z has grown up with, says Vriti Panwar, a Toronto-based lead advisor for wealth management at Wealthsimple. Older generations often planned around milestones that feel increasingly out of reach to Gen Z: steady jobs, early homeownership, pensions. “The world is a very different place,” she says.
Alec Jeffery, 27, says he prioritizes saving and investing to give himself “infinite flexibility” in retirement.Supplied/Tara Sabloff
Looking at retirement differently
A 2024 survey from Wealthsimple showed that while many Gen Zers are thinking about retirement, they’re also bucking traditional notions of what the end of work means. For example, 74 per cent of 25-to-44-year-olds said the conventional approach to retirement – halting work at age 65 to enjoy a life of leisure – is an outdated concept. But 41 per cent said they are motivated to retire well before age 55 so they can pursue ambitions related to small business, consulting, non-profit work, a passion project or a creative pursuit.
For Gen Z, it’s more about financial independence than retirement, says Ms. Panwar. “If I want to change a career, move to a different city or start a side hustle, do I have enough buffer to be able to make those choices?”
Alec Jeffrey, 27, says that when he thinks about his future retired self, his top priority is having the financial freedom to pursue whatever he wishes – whether that be continuing to live his current lifestyle or travel the world.
“I just want to give myself infinite flexibility,” says Mr. Jeffery, a software engineering graduate currently working in Montreal.
He says he started saving early thanks to lessons learned at home. At 18, Mr. Jeffery received an introduction to long-term investing when his step-grandfather handed him Canadian personal finance book The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton. Not long after, Mr. Jeffrey’s grandmother helped him and his siblings open a TFSA and set up automatic monthly contributions – sometimes as little as $50 – into an index fund.
“I just let that run right until the end of university,” says Mr. Jeffery. “I didn’t touch it at all.” When he made more money during co-op terms, he increased his contributions; when money was tight, he scaled back but never stopped entirely.
Mr. Jeffery says he follows a simple rule: a certain percentage of his earnings go toward his expenses, and “the rest goes right to savings,” he says. That structure lets him see where his money is going, curbing blind spending: “I [call] it my personal allotment,” he says.
Deidre Cross, who runs a popular personal finance account on TikTok, says her Gen Z audience is highly engaged.Supplied/Tyra Séguin
Financial literacy through TikTok
Deidre Cross – a Toronto-based financial educator and founder of personal finance platform Ohh You Budget – says Gen Z is a big portion of her audience, often reaching out through direct messages on social media.
“They’re so into it,’” says Ms. Cross, who has 87,000 followers on TikTok.
She helps young people with financial literacy by sharing tips and downloadable budgeting templates, as well as being transparent about her own past money challenges. “For some people, it’s their first time hearing about an emergency fund or a high-interest savings account,” she says. “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
When it comes to retirement, her advice for Gen Z is: Don’t ignore it, even if it seems far away. “I tell Gen Z, start investing now, even if it’s little.”
As someone who has been able to put significant funds away for his future, Mr. Jeffery’s advice to his Gen Z peers is straightforward: “Go to your bank, speak to a financial advisor, and say, ‘Info dump me,’” he says. From there, it’s about consistent contributions, he adds.
Ms. Ding shares similar advice. “If you haven’t been putting money aside, it can feel super overwhelming,” she says – so start small, even if that means putting aside a few dollars a week.
While Canada’s current financial landscape is tough, with high housing costs, a challenging job market and economic uncertainty, Ms. Cross says that interacting with her Gen Z followers makes her feel hopeful for their futures.
“They know what they want,” she says. “They don’t want to work forever.”
