Gen Z dropping religion in American Dream as conventional profession paths fail

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Gen Z is on the verge of opting out. Not out of laziness — out of disillusionment. We’ve inherited a roadmap that not leads anyplace, and for many people, the American Dream feels extra like a bedtime story than a blueprint for all times.

I do know this as a result of I virtually walked away from it too. However I didn’t. And now I’m constructing the instruments to ensure others don’t must.

I’m 23 years outdated, a first-generation American. My mother and father got here right here from China within the late ’90s, carrying little greater than hope and an outsized suitcase. They believed — possibly greater than something — that tough work meant alternative. They didn’t have a lot, however that they had that perception. And thru self-discipline and what I now acknowledge as unimaginable sacrifice, they carved out a life that gave me the liberty to dream larger than they ever may.

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That dream led me to pave my very own means. I began investing in 2nd grade with a custodian account I begged my mother and father to open. I dropped out of highschool to construct and promote my first firm, a digital actuality startup.

I then discovered myself beginning Harvard on the top of the pandemic. From my dorm room, I participated within the COVID investing boom -- memestocks, crypto, super-star fund managers… I embraced all of it. And the eventual collapse of the mania impressed me to take motion. I dropped out to construct dub , a fintech platform to assist all Individuals make investments with extra readability and confidence.

In some ways, I’m dwelling proof that the American Dream remains to be attainable. However I do know I’m an outlier. And until we make daring modifications — quick — my era will cease believing it’s even price making an attempt.

We lately partnered with Harris Ballot to ask Individuals how they actually really feel about their monetary future. What we discovered is sobering. Sixty percent of Gen Z not consider a standard 9-to-5 job will get them to their monetary targets. Forty-three p.c say facet hustles are important. Forty-one p.c consider you must be an entrepreneur simply to make it. And one thing that hit me laborious: solely about half of Gen Z nonetheless sees proudly owning a house as a significant monetary milestone.

For many people, success isn’t a white picket fence. It’s paying off debt. Supporting our mother and father. Having respiratory room. The outdated roadmap — graduate, get a job, purchase a home — feels like fiction in at present’s financial system.

I’m dwelling proof that the American Dream remains to be attainable. However I do know I’m an outlier. And until we make daring modifications — quick — my era will cease believing it’s even price making an attempt.

This isn’t laziness. It’s adaptation. We’re rising prices, shrinking wages, and an training system that by no means taught us how cash works. We’re the "FinTok Technology" — 62% of us flip to social media for monetary recommendation. Not as a result of it’s best — however as a result of it’s all we’ve obtained. We didn’t develop up with monetary advisors. So we take what we are able to get — TikToks, Reddit threads, group chats.

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And we’re not simply passively watching. Sixty percent of Gen Z is already investing outside of retirement accounts . Sixty-five p.c consider that’s our greatest shot at constructing wealth. However solely 17% of Individuals say they really really feel assured in how the inventory market works. We’re out right here making an attempt. However we’re usually guessing.

And the instruments we’re utilizing? A combined bag. Seventy-two p.c of Individuals consider fintech has made investing extra accessible — and it has. However too lots of these platforms revenue off confusion. They push folks towards choices trades, meme shares, FOMO bets. That’s not investing. That’s playing in a swimsuit.

I constructed dub to flip that script. As an alternative of blindly investing, dub lets customers copy the trades of actual buyers with actual investing methods. No hype. No TikTok influencers peddling the following billion greenback meme coin. Simply transparency, long-term investing, and actual experience. And it solely takes $100 to start out.

We’re really not re-inventing the wheel. We’re democratizing what the rich have already got: entry to experience. Wealthy folks don’t DIY their investments — they rent fancy wealth managers and make investments with elite hedge funds. We’re making that have out there for all Individuals. You not want wealth to construct wealth. Anybody can now outsource the laborious work of investing in a single faucet.

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However this isn’t nearly dub. It’s a wake-up name to each firm constructing for Gen Z.

We’re bored with being monetized to the brink. Uninterested in platforms taking advantage of the very confusion they create. Uninterested in watching instruments that would empower our era as an alternative exploit us for short-term good points.

It’s why I constructed dub: to show that mission-driven corporations can create a brighter, extra optimistic future — not only for shareholders, however for whole generations. If even 1% of Individuals study to speculate higher, we start to indicate that anybody, from any background, can take part within the best wealth engine ever created: the American inventory market.

Why do I name out different business leaders? As a result of I’ve lived the choice. My household got here to Detroit with $10,000 a yr and lived in part 8 housing — and at present, I’m constructing one of many fastest-growing investing platforms in New York City .

That’s the American Dream. And it shouldn’t cease with me.

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However to maintain it alive, we have to construct in another way. We have to cease creating merchandise that amplify the worst of human nature and revenue off the confusion of my era. We'd like instruments that give Gen Z a cause to consider once more — within the system, in themselves, and in the way forward for this nation.

We’re redefining the Dream. I’m right here to cleared the path. However I can’t do it alone.

Right here’s how we unlock the American Dream for Gen Z in 2025.

1. Construct the appropriate instruments. Tech corporations should cease profiting off dangerous conduct. Construct instruments that really feel native to Gen Z, however nudge us towards long-term investing, not YOLO bets.

2. Train monetary literacy prefer it’s life or demise — as a result of it's. Begin from the second our youngsters can learn. Train compounding. Train possession. Train debt and credit score. These will not be electives. They’re survival expertise.

3. Make possession the brand new norm. Let each American really feel — not simply hear — that they’re a part of this nation’s wealth engine. Once we personal a bit of innovation, we consider in its future.

If Gen Z stops believing within the American Dream, we don’t simply lose a era. We lose the way forward for this nation. However I consider we’re not past restore.

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When Gen Z sees an actual path — we take it. We grind. We construct. We assist one another up. But when the trail stays hidden or rigged, we’ll cease strolling it altogether. And we’ll construct a distinct one as an alternative.

The American Dream made me. Now I’m working to ensure I’m not the final.

Steven Wang, 23, is a first-generation American and founding father of a fintech platform dub targeted on making investing extra accessible to the following era. dub has raised $47M, is valued at 9-figures, and has thousands and thousands of downloads. He left Harvard to assist rebuild perception within the American Dream—from the underside up.