Generation Z may be decades away from retirement, but they are already the most worried that artificial intelligence will derail their financial future, according to a new survey.
Some 51% of Gen Z believe AI is threatening their ability to save for retirement, 11 percentage points higher than the national average, according to the TIAA survey “Retirement in the Age of AI and GLP-1s” . The survey polled 1,000 US adults aged 18 to 65 between July 27 and July 31, 2026.
The Career Disruption Fear
Much of that anxiety centers on how AI could impact their careers. Some 42% of Gen Z are “extremely” or “very” concerned that AI could disrupt their career or reduce their earning potential before retirement, compared to 33% of millennials and 28% of Gen Xers and boomers.
The logic is direct: if AI shortens careers or reduces earnings during the years workers are supposed to be saving, they arrive at retirement with smaller balances and a longer time horizon to fund.
TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett warned earlier this year that young workers who fail to adapt to AI could find themselves at a disadvantage. “Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries at a pace that is breathtaking,” she said. “Industries, vocations, and jobs that once seemed reliable may not be the havens they once were”.
The Longevity Trap
One of the promises of AI is that it could help people live longer by accelerating medical breakthroughs. But living longer presents a financial tradeoff: the more years people spend in retirement, the more money they need.
Gen Z is already worried about that possibility. Some 59% say they fear they will withdraw too much from their retirement savings and run out of money before they die, compared with 47% of millennials and 54% of Gen X and baby boomers . Nearly half — 47% — say traditional retirement planning does not sufficiently account for longer life spans.
What Duckett Advises
Despite the anxiety, Duckett said young people have more power over their future than they might think. Her advice starts with the very first paycheck.
“Especially for young people, retirement seems so far away, but there’s a hack,” Duckett said. “The hack is, first job, first dollar. The first thing I tell young people is, your very first job, max out before you get the check, because once you get it, you will find ways to spend it”.
She emphasized the power of compounding: “$1 today is worth more than $1 tomorrow. You want to make sure you take full advantage of that match”.
The Bottom Line
A new TIAA survey finds that 51% of Gen Z believe AI threatens their ability to save for retirement — 11 points higher than the national average. They are more concerned than older generations about career disruption and running out of money. TIAA’s CEO advises young workers to start saving from their first paycheck and maximize employer matches. The anxiety reflects a broader uncertainty about how AI will reshape careers and how long retirees will need their savings to last.
My Opinion
Gen Z are being realistic. They watched millennials graduate into a financial crisis, take on record student debt, and get priced out of homeownership. Now they are being told that AI might take their jobs before they even get started. Of course they are worried about retirement. They are worried about next month.
The irony is that the same technology they fear could also help them. AI is accelerating medical research that may help them live longer. It is creating new industries and new jobs. But those jobs require skills that many young workers do not yet have, and the transition will not be smooth. The people who adapt will thrive. The people who do not will fall behind.
TIAA’s advice is sound: start saving early, max out your employer match, let compounding work. But that advice assumes you have a job with a 401(k) and an employer who matches. A growing number of young workers are freelancing, contracting, or working gig jobs with no benefits at all. For them, the retirement advice is a luxury.
The real problem is not that Gen Z is anxious. It is that the system they are being asked to trust has not been designed for them. Telling them to save more while wages stagnate and housing costs soar is not a solution. If we want young people to feel secure about retirement, we need to make the economy work for them. That means affordable housing, portable benefits, and a social safety net that does not depend on whether your employer offers a match.
