BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) CEO Larry Fink has been open about what is going wrong when it comes to younger generations and economic stress. Fink said in his 2024 annual letter to investors that Gen Z and Millennials were feeling “financially anxious” because, in their view, older generations built systems that worked for themselves and left everyone else to fend for themselves.
Fink doesn’t shy away from that frustration. He agrees.
He wrote that younger Americans believe that baby boomers “have focused on their own financial well-being at the expense of whoever comes next,” adding bluntly, “And in the case of retirement, they’re right.”
Don’t miss:
Fink’s argument begins with a simple reality: People are living much longer, but retirement systems have not kept up.
He says retirement today is “a much more difficult proposition than it was 30 years ago. And it will be a much more difficult proposition 30 years from now.” Longer life means more years to fundjust as traditional pensions have disappeared and Social Security is facing increasing strain.
Fink says the message many workers are getting today is an effective one: You’re on your own. Unlike past generations, fewer workers have pensions that promise steady income for life. Instead, they’re handed 401(k)s if they’re told to save, invest, and somehow guess how long their money should last.
this uncertainty affects younger workers in particular. Fink wrote that nearly half of Americans between the ages of 55 and 65 have nothing saved in personal retirement accounts. For younger generations who are seeing rising inflation, rising housing prices and lagging wages, the idea of building a secure retirement may seem unrealistic.
Fink connects this pressure directly to generational anger. Millennials and Gen Z aren’t just stressed about money today. They worry that the future will turn against them.
Trend: Earn while you’re on the move: Deloitte’s #1 software company growing 32,481% is opening its $0.50 per share round to accredited investors.
Fink says the biggest barrier to investing isn’t ignorance or apathy. it’s scary
“No one leaves their money in stocks or bonds for 30 or 40 years if they fear the future will be worse than the present,” he wrote.
When people lose faith that tomorrow will be better, they stop investing and start over accumulating cash. According to Fink, countries with low confidence tend to have extremely high savings rates, with money sitting idle instead of being put to work.
He worries that America is headed in this direction, as young Americans have far less hope than previous generations, and many question whether life has a purpose. This loss of optimism is the most worrying trend seen in nearly 50 years in finance.
“If future generations have no hope for this country and their future in it,” he writes, “then America will not only lose the strength that makes people want to invest. America will lose what makes it America.”
Fink doesn’t let his own generation down. He recognizes that Social Security was designed for a time when many workers never lived long enough to collect benefits. Today, couples in their mid-60s have a high probability that at least one spouse will still be collecting checks in their 90s.
Also See: From Moxy Hotels to $12 Million in Real Estate – The company behind some of New York’s trendiest properties is letting in individual investors.
Math doesn’t work like it used to. Clinging to outdated assumptions, such as a retirement age set generations ago, is unrealistic, Fink says. He argues that the US needs a serious, high-level effort to modernize retirement so that younger workers are not burdened.
When everyday investors can participate earlier, they are more likely to believe the system works for them too.
For investors who want pre-IPO exposure to transformative technologies like AI, Fundraising it offers a way to get in earlier without needing wealth at the institutional level. Instead of waiting for companies to go public, Fundrise gives everyday investors access to private market opportunities that were once reserved for insiders.
Check out their portfolio of companies today. Start investing in minutes and with as little as $10.
“I hear it from almost every customer, almost every leader, almost every person, that I talk to: they are more anxious about the economy than at any time in recent memory,” Fink reinforced in last year’s edition. letter. “I understand why. But we’ve been through moments like this before. And somehow, in the long run, we’ll figure things out.”
Read next: Professional traders demand transparency: see why Kraken Pro has become one of the most trusted advanced crypto trading platforms.
Image: Shutterstock
Next: Transform your business with Benzinga Edge’s unique market trading ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can get ahead of you in today’s competitive market.
Get the latest Benzinga stock analysis:
This article BlackRock’s Larry Fink said Gen Z and millennials are “financially anxious” for a reason. They blame the boomers for focusing only on themselves originally appeared Benzinga.com
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
itstargetnews
