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Why Gen Z is Approaching Money Differently Than Other Generations

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Every generation has their own unique approach to money and personal finance.

Millennials, for example, found the journey to adulthood riddled with obstacles such as stagnating wage growth and uncertain economic conditions. These challenges, combined with other generational circumstances, helped to shape the group’s spending habits and attitudes towards money and debt.

Along this journey, Millennials ended up making their fair share of financial mistakes – but interestingly, evidence is now mounting that the next generational cohort (Gen Z) is already learning from their elders.

A New Approach to Money

Today’s infographic comes to us from Rave Reviews and it shows how Gen Z is taking a more pragmatic approach to money.

Why Gen Z is Approaching Money Differently Than Other Generations

Gen Z saw some of their older friends take on massive amounts of debt, while also struggling to find well-paying jobs.

As a result, this new generation (born 1997 and onwards) is taking a much more pragmatic approach to the world of personal finance. Gen Zers generally want to secure well-paying and stable jobs, and to grow their savings rather than spending money that they don’t have.

School and Work

For Generation Z, an education is often seen as an end to a financial means. In other words, college is an opportunity to build a set of skills that will be valuable to employers, ensuring a stable career.

That’s why 88% of the first Gen Z grad class in 2017 ended up choosing their majors with job availability in mind.

Recent Gen Z grads are willing to put in the work, as well:

  • 75% are willing to relocate to another state for a job offer
  • 58% are willing to work evenings and weekends
  • 78% have completed an internship or apprenticeship
  • 77% earn extra money through freelance work, a part-time job, or an earned allowance
  • 35% already own their own business, or are planning to start one in the future

While the Gen Z outlook on school and work is a defining factor in their attitude towards personal finance, how they save and spend money is also making a difference.

Saving and Spending

A whopping 89% of Gen Zers say planning for their financial future makes them feel empowered, while 64% have already begun researching the topic of financial planning.

With dollars and cents on their minds, Gen Z is a more frugal and fiscally responsible group:

  • 72% say that cost is most important factor when making a purchase
  • 47% use their phones in-store to check prices and ask family or friends for advice
  • 66% plan to attend college in-state to save on tuition

As Gen Z enters the professional workforce and starts investing their savings, it will be interesting to see what comes out of this frugal and practical approach to money.

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Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation

This graphic illustrates the amount of U.S. currency in circulation globally, by denomination, based on data from the Federal Reserve.

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Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Have you ever wondered how much U.S. currency is in circulation?

Every year, the U.S. Federal Reserve submits a print order for U.S. currency to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The BEP will then print billions of notes in various denominations, from $1 bills to $100 bills.

In this graphic, we’ve used the latest Federal Reserve data to visualize the approximate number of bills for each denomination globally, as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Breakdown of U.S. Currency in Circulation

The following table lists all of the data we used to create the visualization above. Note that value figures were rounded for simplicity.

Type of BillNumber of notes
in circulation (billions)
Value ($B)
$114.3$14B
$21.5$3B
$53.5$18B
$102.3$23B
$2011.5$230B
$502.5$125B
$10018.5$1,850B
$500-10,000*0.0004n/a

*$500-10,000 bills are listed as a range, and a total circulation of 0.0004 billion. Not included in graphic.

From these numbers, we can see that $100 bills are the most common bill in circulation, even ahead of $1 bills.

One reason for this is $100 bills have a longer lifespan than smaller denominations, due to people using $100 bills less often for transactions. Some businesses may also decline $100 bills as payment.

Based on 2018 estimates from the Federal Reserve, a $100 bill has a lifespan of over 20 years, which is significantly higher than $1 bills (7 years) and $5 bills (5 years).

If you’re interested in more visualizations on the U.S. dollar, consider this animated chart which shows how the dollar overtook the British pound as the world’s most prominent reserve currency.

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