While most teens are still figuring out how to parallel park, some are already building stock portfolios—and making serious money.
Thanks to a mix of AI tools, after-school jobs, and financially savvy parents, a new wave of Gen Z investors is getting into the stock market younger than any previous generation. According to the 2024 Charles Schwab Modern Wealth Survey, the average Gen Z investor is buying stocks by age 19, compared to Millennials at 25 and Gen X at 32.
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Gen Z Teens Are Turning Summer Jobs Into Serious Stock Market Gains
Ryan Sorrell was just 8 years old when he made his first Bitcoin investment. Now 15, he’s bussing tables at a retirement home and funneling his $800-a-month paycheck straight into Bitcoin and MicroStrategy stock. So far, he’s turned $6,000 into profit—with some help from AI tools like ChatGPT.
“It helps me a lot to just run through scenarios, to see where I’d be if I did that in, like, 10 years’ time,” Sorrell told The New York Post. He says investing early has completely changed how he thinks about money: “I’m putting it in the market and making a return instead of just losing it for, like, a pair of shoes or something.”
Sophia Castiblanco, now an 18-year-old college freshman, started investing at 14 using money from her toy review YouTube channel. Initially putting in $300 a month, she’s now investing $3,000 a month into companies like Tesla, Amazon, and Nvidia. Even after recent market turbulence, Castiblanco doubled down.
“I think it’s a great time to put money into the market,” she said. She hopes her profits will eventually fund an investment property for passive income. Castiblanco also wishes more young women would jump into finance early. “It would be so beneficial if schools had a finance class at a young age so that students actually develop some more financial literacy.”
Perrin Myerson started dabbling in stocks at 14 after discovering Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum. He opened his first practice account with help from his dad, then poured Taco Bell paychecks into stocks like Amazon and Palantir. Now 22, he’s running a startup and boasts a 51% return on his investments.
“Too many people my age are looking for get-rich-quick schemes,” Myerson warned.
Even high school juniors like Isaiah Jones are making moves. Jones, 16, built a crypto portfolio from lawn-mowing money and says trading is now “mainstream” at his Richmond, Virginia school.
Still, financial experts caution against buying into meme stocks or sketchy crypto hype. “Always invest in things that you’re using,” said Brian Belski, Chief Investment Strategist at BMO Capital Markets.
Good advice—especially when half your classmates are checking their crypto wallets between classes.
