Northwestern Mutual 首席现场官 John Roberts 将这种心态称为“financial nihilism（财务虚无主义）”：储蓄不足且长期投资回报令人失望，使“快速出结果”的策略更具吸引力。研究背景是劳动力和信贷环境偏弱：2025 年新增就业总量在非衰退年份中是自2003年以来最低，2025 年第四季度贷款逾期率（按家庭债务占比）在2017年后达到最高水平，美国2月就业下滑且失业率升至4.4%，学生贷款逾期也是压力来源之一。在此背景下，Kalshi 与 Polymarket 等预测市场吸引了不少18岁的年轻用户，用户可交易从联邦基金利率目标到 NHL 与大学橄榄球赛事结果等各种合约。
女性使用预测市场、加密货币、期权或梗股等投机型资产的概率约为其他人一半。住房可负担性信心在2026年明显上升：认为现在或未来可负担购房的成年人比例从2025年的33%升至42%，其中Gen Z从42%上升到54%。但这一上升可能更多反映家庭支持而非就业改善：近四分之三有子女与父母同住的父母表示已开始或正在计划帮助孩子购房，且其中约30%把帮孩子买房排在资助大学教育之前。
An annual Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress survey of 4,375 U.S. adults (online Jan 5–21, 2026) shows Gen Z investors are embracing high-volatility bets as a shortcut to catch up financially. Roughly one in three respondents aged 18–29 said they were putting money into, or considering putting money into, sports betting and prediction markets. Among these younger investors, 80% believed such speculative routes could help them reach financial goals faster than traditional investing; the equivalent rate among millennials was 75%. At the same time, only 50% of surveyed Americans said they feel financially secure, and many cite feeling “behind” as a psychological trigger.
Northwestern Mutual chief field officer John Roberts characterized this mindset as “financial nihilism”: insufficient savings plus disappointing long-term returns make quick-outcome strategies attractive. The study is framed by a weak labor and credit environment: in 2025, annual job additions outside recession years were the lowest since 2003, loan delinquency as a share of household debt rose to its highest level since 2017 in Q4, and U.S. unemployment rose to 4.4% in February; student-loan delinquencies were part of the stress. In this backdrop, prediction platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are drawing users as young as 18 who can trade contracts on everything from federal funds-rate targets to NHL and college football outcomes.
Women were about half as likely to use speculation-heavy assets such as prediction markets, crypto, options, or meme stocks. Home-affordability confidence rose sharply in 2026: the share of adults saying home ownership is affordable now or in the future rose from 33% in 2025 to 42%, and among Gen Z it rose from 42% to 54%. Yet the rise may reflect family support rather than labor gains: nearly three-quarters of parents with children at home said they have started or are planning to help finance a home purchase, and about 30% of those parents ranked that help above paying for college.