By Robyn Edwards
Not only is Gen Z a digital native generation but according to the recent GenNext research results released in March 2021, young people between the ages of 8 & 24 have the combined spending power of R131bn.
Thus, money management for young adults is key as they try and navigate this spending power.
Taking this into account, the following resources are available for Gen Z to educate themselves about budgeting, debt management, saving & investing.
Money management on TikTok
With Tiktok being such a highly consumed medium by Gen Z, it’s important that the money management resources on this platform are highlighted.
First to mention is Tori Dunlap, a U.S entrepreneur who quit her corporate job after saving her first $100 000 by the age of 25 years old. She shares bite sized chunks of information via @herfirst100k account to over 1.5m followers. Bite sized information ranging in topics from “Travel tips if you have debt” to “High yield savings accounts” which are all appropriately Gen Z relevant. Note that whilst financial decisions should never be made from 10 – 30 second video clips, the topline message in these clips allows one to go and do further research to make an informed decision.
Ways to save money on Instagram & YouTube
Closer to home, from a South African perspective there are three accounts on Instagram that offer Gen Z tips to use in their way.
Kash Parker runs @financialfitnessforwomen and is a certified business coach who posts to more than 10 000 of her followers about financial literacy after going through her own experience with debt.
Tisa Ntlawini also runs @financialchats_tisa where she posts to more than 1000 followers about her financial journey as well as ways to save money particularly through exchange traded funds and tax-free savings accounts.
Lastly in true Gen Z style, Talya Plaatjies runs an account called @fashionably_financial where she combines aesthetically pleasing fashion & lifestyle imagery with tips to manage your money for her almost 3000 followers.
Lerato, Budget Buddy is also a YouTube channel to note as she broadcasts videos about a multitude of topics like investing, saving and property to her almost 1500 subscribers.
Personal budget template on an App
Almost all the major banks’ banking apps have budget planning tools. These apps offer Gen Z personal budget templates from plans based on the 50-30-20 principle to simple spreadsheets for budget tracking. They can all be found on the mobile banking app available at your bank of choice. The 22seven app is also available as a free download and currently over 350 000 South Africans use it. This app allows you to track your financial data and manage your money.
Whilst acumen around money management is important, financial education is also key and www.pocketfin.co.za offers a few free 4 week courses on various topics such as Basics of Debt and Long term Investing. Gen Z now have this online resource available to improve their financial literacy levels without even looking up from their phones.
The technology orientated Gen Z crowd now have all the above-mentioned resources available for them to build their financially sound futures.
Robyn Edwards is a marketing manager at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings.
PERSONAL FINANCE