By Kenneth Stivers
Teenagers today are growing up in a world that talks constantly about money and worries about it even more. They scroll through videos about debt, side hustles, crypto, and “quiet quitting,” while hearing adults debate inflation, student loans, and housing prices. The result isn’t just curiosity about finance, it’s anxiety.
A recent survey by Junior Achievement USA found that 54% of teens feel unprepared to finance their futures, with many expressing fear about affording college or living independently. Young people today understand money’s importance earlier than ever but feel less certain about how to manage it.
For credit unions, this is a call to action. Credit unions were founded on financial education and community trust. Now, they have a chance to modernize that mission for a generation growing up in the most financially complex era in history.
Financial Worry Starts Earlier and Lasts Longer
For decades, conversations about financial stress began in adulthood — around mortgages, bills, and credit scores. Today, that stress starts in high school.
Across the globe, economic uncertainty is persisting for young people as they move through adulthood. On average, teens who struggle with money-related anxiety earn less per year and save less by age 30. Financial stress, in other words, compounds. It shapes not only how young people feel about their futures, but also how they eventually participate in the economy.
Confidence, Not Just Literacy
Schools and policymakers have made progress in expanding financial education, but literacy alone isn’t solving the problem. The challenge is confidence — the ability to act on knowledge when the future feels uncertain.
That uncertainty is real. Job markets are shifting under automation. College tuition continues to outpace inflation. Even traditional “safe” career paths offer less stability than they did a generation ago.
At the same time, financial opportunities have never been more accessible. A teen can open an investment account with $5, build savings automatically, and track spending in real time.
However, most still hesitate. A 2023 study found that while 75% of teens believe investing is important, only 23% have actually started. The reason is the lack of confidence and context. When young people don’t see where to begin, they tune out. And that’s where credit unions come in.
Credit Unions as a Modern Anchor
Community banks and credit unions were born from education, cooperation, and local trust. Those same values can now serve a new purpose: helping young people navigate the tension between opportunity and anxiety.
The same generation that worries about money also wants to learn. They’re digital natives who expect tools that are interactive, transparent, and built around feedback loops. Nearly eight in 10 Gen Z consumers use digital wallets.
They already manage their financial lives through screens. The question, then, is how community banks can meet them where they’re at?
Credit unions don’t have to reinvent the wheel to get there. They can shift existing community engagement strategies into the digital age. Some strategies include:
- Partner with local institutions: Offer programs that combine learning with real-world banking experiences.
- Use gamified tools: Make saving and budgeting feel rewarding, not remedial.
- Encourage family participation: Design parent-teen account structures that build shared accountability.
- Celebrate small wins: Create incentives for consistent saving, community projects, or financial milestones.
- Implement structured learning paths: Introduce digital curricula that guide teens through key topics such as budgeting and credit, or investing, and digital security, using short, interactive lessons that build in complexity over time.
- Track progress through insights and analytics: Use dashboards or reporting tools that help educators, parents, and institutions see where students are succeeding or struggling, allowing for targeted coaching and measurable growth.
Each of these steps extends what community banking has always done: build resilience through belonging.
Why It Matters — and What Comes Next
Communities thrive when their members feel capable of making decisions, not when they avoid them. Every financially confident teen can become a more engaged adult: a saver, a homeowner, a small-business owner, or a future member. For credit unions, that’s sustainability.
Advances in digital banking have changed the playing field. What once required enterprise-scale infrastructure is now accessible through affordable, cloud-based, and white-label platforms.
Today, even small community institutions can offer mobile-first education tools, digital wallets, and youth engagement apps that rival the capabilities of national banks.
The future may be unpredictable, but financial confidence is teachable.
Kenneth Stivers is general manager of GenAspire.
