Gen Z’s financial ambitions, and the dissonance between their dreams and reality, honestly highlight a troubling cultural shift that I’m sure, if we’re honest, we all recognize. This poll, while maybe not bulletproof in methodology, lines up with other findings from Credit Karma, other Morning Consult surveys, and academic sources like PLOS and Collabra: Psychology. The term “money dysphoria,” used by financial therapists, gets to the heart of the issue, which is a mismatch between the paychecks, fame, and wealth many envision and the actual economic terrain we’re navigating. The fact that more than half of Gen Z reportedly wants to be influencers points to a broader trend where social media distorts not only career goals but also broader ideas about value and success.
Researchers see Gen Z as unique—sometimes in ways worth celebrating, but more often in ways that are troubling. Every generation wrestles with the pressures of its time, but Gen Z is the only generation that spent critical childhood-development years under a spotlight powered by social algorithms, constantly fed by curated images and endless comparisons. It seems obvious this environment is going to shape approaches to work, wealth, and purpose, often in ways that are kind of adrift from reality. What stands out here isn’t just misplaced optimism; it’s the fallout of growing up in an ecosystem designed to blur the lines between aspiration and delusion.
This isn’t to pin dysfunction entirely on Z; after all, no one chooses the world they inherit. But the extent to which our formative years were shaped by this digital distortion makes the challenges uniquely sharp. Gen Z was effectively raised in a hall of mirrors. That’s going to have an effect. And honestly, when I’m talking with from Gen Z about it, we tend to either completely agree and are pretty worried about it, or some people absolutely deny it and get pretty angry about it.
I think if you’re honest with yourself and are in college, you can kind of look around your classrooms and see who is going to feel which way.
I’m in Canada rather than the US, but I personally see it very little of it, except for those who are on the tail end of GenZ. In my experience, most of GenZ (with the possible exception of those still in high-school or early post-secondary) are primarily disgusted by the sort of opulent displays of weath common in influencer culture. If anything, I could see the ridiculously high numbers reflecting a distrust in the economy after living through multiple large financial crisis, and even-increasing costs of living moreso than a direct worship of weath. For example, if they assume a 5% annual increase in cost-of-living over the next 20 years, and want to be making the current equivalent of an 100k salary, they’ll expect to need to make about 265k. If they worry that the economy could crash at any point, it wouldn’t be weird for them to feel the need to aquire more weath faster to prepare. Thats not to say there is no worship of weath and fame, but thats also not new. Before the internet, it was reality tv, and before that, magazine and newspapers. I mean, look at Donald Trump even - he got where he is not because of an education or anything but because he used his existing fame to springboard him into power. Even before that, think of the worship of the British monarchy and the facination people have with their drama. The only new part is the algorithms, but their widespread use and monitization only really caught the tail-end of GenZ when they were young and its mostly Gen Alpha growing up knowing nothing else.
Gen Z’s financial ambitions, and the dissonance between their dreams and reality, honestly highlight a troubling cultural shift that I’m sure, if we’re honest, we all recognize. This poll, while maybe not bulletproof in methodology, lines up with other findings from Credit Karma, other Morning Consult surveys, and academic sources like PLOS and Collabra: Psychology. The term “money dysphoria,” used by financial therapists, gets to the heart of the issue, which is a mismatch between the paychecks, fame, and wealth many envision and the actual economic terrain we’re navigating. The fact that more than half of Gen Z reportedly wants to be influencers points to a broader trend where social media distorts not only career goals but also broader ideas about value and success.
Researchers see Gen Z as unique—sometimes in ways worth celebrating, but more often in ways that are troubling. Every generation wrestles with the pressures of its time, but Gen Z is the only generation that spent critical childhood-development years under a spotlight powered by social algorithms, constantly fed by curated images and endless comparisons. It seems obvious this environment is going to shape approaches to work, wealth, and purpose, often in ways that are kind of adrift from reality. What stands out here isn’t just misplaced optimism; it’s the fallout of growing up in an ecosystem designed to blur the lines between aspiration and delusion.
This isn’t to pin dysfunction entirely on Z; after all, no one chooses the world they inherit. But the extent to which our formative years were shaped by this digital distortion makes the challenges uniquely sharp. Gen Z was effectively raised in a hall of mirrors. That’s going to have an effect. And honestly, when I’m talking with from Gen Z about it, we tend to either completely agree and are pretty worried about it, or some people absolutely deny it and get pretty angry about it.
I think if you’re honest with yourself and are in college, you can kind of look around your classrooms and see who is going to feel which way.
Wait, half of Gen Z says they want to be an influencer? Where are you getting this info?
I’m in Canada rather than the US, but I personally see it very little of it, except for those who are on the tail end of GenZ. In my experience, most of GenZ (with the possible exception of those still in high-school or early post-secondary) are primarily disgusted by the sort of opulent displays of weath common in influencer culture. If anything, I could see the ridiculously high numbers reflecting a distrust in the economy after living through multiple large financial crisis, and even-increasing costs of living moreso than a direct worship of weath. For example, if they assume a 5% annual increase in cost-of-living over the next 20 years, and want to be making the current equivalent of an 100k salary, they’ll expect to need to make about 265k. If they worry that the economy could crash at any point, it wouldn’t be weird for them to feel the need to aquire more weath faster to prepare. Thats not to say there is no worship of weath and fame, but thats also not new. Before the internet, it was reality tv, and before that, magazine and newspapers. I mean, look at Donald Trump even - he got where he is not because of an education or anything but because he used his existing fame to springboard him into power. Even before that, think of the worship of the British monarchy and the facination people have with their drama. The only new part is the algorithms, but their widespread use and monitization only really caught the tail-end of GenZ when they were young and its mostly Gen Alpha growing up knowing nothing else.