{"id":10888,"date":"2026-09-06T17:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T21:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=10888"},"modified":"2026-09-06T17:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T21:35:11","slug":"gen-z-switches-retirement-saving-for-sports-betting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=10888","title":{"rendered":"Gen Z switches retirement saving for sports betting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than half of Gen Z adults ages 18 to 29 put money they had intended to invest for retirement into sports betting over the past year, according to a\u00a0recent survey by the\u00a0<\/a>investing and financial advice app Betterment<\/a>. And quite a few \u2014 14% \u2014 said they’re doing so several times a month.<\/p>\n

“When a prediction market or sportsbook starts to feel like a retirement strategy, we have a problem,” Betterment CEO Sarah Levy told Yahoo Finance.<\/p>\n

“These products are not designed to help them build toward the next decade of wealth, ” she said. “The industry has a responsibility to be clear about the difference between participating in a trend and building lasting wealth.”<\/p>\n

About 26% of Gen Z investors said they treat sports betting as a “deliberate, ongoing part of their long-term financial strategy,” according to the survey. That’s compared with roughly 14% of millennials, 6% of Gen X, and 1% of baby boomers.<\/p>\n

More than 3 in 10 Gen Z adults said they completely avoid sports betting as an investment strategy. For those who do dabble, about a quarter said they considered it “fun money.”<\/p>\n

Young investors need guardrails to separate their “speculative interests from their long-term wealth building, making sure they don’t inadvertently jeopardize their future for a current thrill, ” said Dan Egan, Betterment’s vice president of behavioral investing.<\/p>\n

The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), which represents legal online sports betting operators including FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Fanatics Sportsbook, agreed.<\/p>\n

“Sports betting is a form of entertainment, not an investment or a strategy for building wealth,” SBA President Joe Maloney, said in a statement to Yahoo Finance. “Adults who choose to bet should do so responsibly, within a predetermined entertainment budget and never with money needed for savings or essential expenses. Legal, regulated online sportsbooks are committed to promoting responsible play and provide customers with tools to set limits, manage their activity, and get help when they need it.”<\/p>\n

The allure of sports betting has come under scrutiny in other reports this year. Gen Z and millennials make up the largest share of Americans who are investing in or considering investing in high-risk, speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies, prediction markets, sports betting, options, and meme stocks, according to a Northwestern Mutual\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0published in March.<\/p>\n

In that report, nearly one-third of investors between 18 and 29 said they were putting money, or pondering doing so, into crypto, sports betting, or prediction markets. That’s roughly on par with the views expressed by millennials but far above boomers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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