A new survey shows a striking generational split in how younger Americans think about gambling and their financial futures.
Betterment, a digital investing firm, polled 1,000 US retail investors online and released the results Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. The findings show that 26% of Gen Z investors, defined here as those born between 1997 and 2007, view sports betting as a deliberate, ongoing part of their financial planning.
The figures drop off sharply with age: 14% of millennials said yes, compared to 6% of Gen X and 1% of baby boomers.
According to the survey, over the past year, more than half of younger investors have redirected funds from investing to sports betting. A notable 14% do so several times a month.
"These products are designed to keep people seeking the next quick score, not to help them build toward the next decade," said Betterment Chief Executive Officer Sarah Levy in a statement.
Robert Kosciuk, 32, from Huntington, New York, uses Robinhood for stock trading but has focused more on betting this year. He wagers $100 at a time, does research before betting, and says he is cautious rather than emotional.
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"I think I'm just smarter about it," Kosciuk said. "I'm not just doing it as a hobby."
He said he knows he is gambling but thinks his approach is more disciplined than treating it as a hobby. This year he has made about $2,500 on bets, and he used winnings from Carolina Hurricanes bets to pay for an entire vacation.
"I booked a whole vacation thanks to the Carolina Hurricanes this year, which sounds insane to say out loud," Kosciuk said.
One-third of Gen Z survey participants said they have no involvement in sports betting. By contrast, 63% of investors from all four generations said they don't bet at all.
US state-regulated sports betting has become a business worth almost $17 billion, and prediction markets have also grown rapidly. Robinhood Markets Inc., a brokerage popular with younger stock traders, introduced prediction-market trading within its mobile app during 2025. The company says that business is its fastest-growing unit ever.
As legal sports gambling and prediction markets have grown, they are competing for cash that could have gone into retirement savings or taxable brokerage accounts. With housing less affordable and living costs rising, many younger adults see home-buying as out of reach. A Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress study released this year says those who feel financially behind are turning to speculative options like crypto, sports betting and prediction markets to catch up.
The survey also points to a shift in how people get financial guidance. Some 56% of investors said their own research and judgment is their main source of financial advice. That share was 40% for Gen Z and 69% for baby boomers.
About one in three Betterment respondents said they trust AI to give financial advice. Of that group, 53% said AI had swayed a financial choice they wouldn't have made otherwise, and 48% of Gen Z respondents overall said the same.
The bottom line: For a generation that came of age with betting apps and trading apps side by side on their phones, the line between investing and gambling has blurred. The question is whether that blur helps build long-term wealth or just makes the losses feel more like entertainment.
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