When Steven Wang was in second grade, he convinced his parents to open a custodial stock account. Now 24 years old, he’s running Dub, a copy-trading platform aimed at solving the financial literacy gap among his peers.
A Harris Poll survey commissioned by Dub in June highlights the contradiction: While 60% of Gen Z and 66% of millennials are investing in the stock market outside of their 401(k)s, just 17% of Americans feel “very confident” in their understanding of how markets actually work. Most believe investing, rather than a traditional nine-to-five career, offers the fastest path to wealth—a dream increasingly shaped by viral TikTok finance videos or meme-stock success stories rather than grounded investment knowledge, Wang told Fortune this summer.
