Everyone has money advice. Who should young investors listen to?

Summary

Gen Z has more financial advice at its fingertips than any generation before it. But with influencers, family, friends and AI offering competing answers, knowing whom to trust is the real challenge.

A young professional receiving their first salary today does not have to look far for financial advice. By breakfast, their phone may have explained SIPs, credit scores, term insurance and an IPO. Before the day ends, an influencer may have recommended a stock, a friend may have forwarded a “sure-shot” idea, and an investment app may have suggested another product. The difficulty is no longer access to information. It is deciding which information deserves trust.

This is becoming one of the less discussed personal-finance problems facing Gen Z. The generation is financially connected, but connection is not the same as guidance. Parents, colleagues, YouTube, Instagram, Telegram groups, financial apps and now AI can all offer answers. What is often missing is a dependable sounding board: someone who knows the individual’s circumstances, understands risk and has no incentive to sell the next product.

Advice everywhere

Sebi’s Investor Survey 2025 offers useful perspective. Among surveyed investors, 59% cited friends, family and colleagues as sources of information on securities-market products, while 56% cited financial influencers on social media. Online investment communities, including Telegram, WhatsApp, Reddit and Facebook groups, were used by 34%; financial professionals were cited by about 25%. These figures cover investors generally, not Gen Z alone. Even so, they reveal the environment in which today’s young investors are learning to make financial decisions.