Hello there, and happy Black History Month, Lunar New Year, and (belated) Groundhog Day! Whew! We might have 6 more weeks of winter ahead of us, but the news certainly isn't slowing down... keep scrolling for new insights on retirement, fintech, cryptocurrency, and more 👇

📚 This Week in Retirement

1. A new survey finds that 54% of retirees don't think their employers contributed enough to their retirement.
2. Fortune 1000 companies' corporate pension funding jumped to 96% in 2021, the highest level since the Great Recession.
3. Retirement plan provider Choice adds a Price Is Right-style game to encourage investors to add crypto to their IRAs.​

💡 Spotlight on... Gen Z Investors

A new generation of savers, spenders, and investors is on the rise, and its members are bringing fintech along with them — a recent survey found that 51% of Gen Z consumers named a fintech company as their most trusted financial brand in 2021, while only 23% named a national bank. What does Gen Z want out of financial institutions, and how is fintech stepping up to the plate?

According to the Wall Street Journal, Gen Z investors are defined by three main characteristics:

1. credit card debt hesitancy;
2. attraction to brands that align with their personal values; and
3. a desire for community and self-education in the financial space.

Members of Gen Z have been heavily affected by the attitude shift around debt that followed the Great Recession. They're wary of racking up avoidable debt, and are now turning to debt-reduced spending alternatives: enhanced debit cards like the Pointcard, or pay-as-you-go services like Affirm and Afterpay.

Along with this frugality comes Gen Z's desire to learn from and about fellow investors to improve their own personal finances. With the rise of cryptocurrency, NFTs, and accessible investing platforms like Public, Robinhood, and Coinbase, investing has become a decidedly social affair.

Lastly, social and environmental consciousness are defining traits of Gen Z, and that's helping to inform the group's investing choices. Members of Gen Z are attracted to investing opportunities that value conservation, like Aspiration, and social equity, like Daylight.

So where does retirement fit these Gen Z financial values?

While flashy new financial opportunities like crypto and LGBTQ+ debit cards may be dominating the airwaves, that doesn't mean Zoomers aren't saving for retirement. In fact, Gen Z retirement investing DOUBLED between 2020 and 2021, according to a recent Fidelity report.

And it seems as though Gen Z's values are changing retirement plans for the better. The discourse around socially conscious retirement investing is changing, and new providers are making it easier to save in innovative ways (see: ForUsAll's Alt401(k) and Better Benefits' write-up about it).

What's in store for the future of retirement investing? Only time will tell, but with Gen Z slowly taking the reins, we've got a good feeling about it.

We here at Better Benefits have been focusing more on retirement content for a hot second now, and we want to know what you think! Take this quick survey to help us help you stay informed and engaged — your input means the world to us!

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