Noah Kerner will not tell you that an entire generation has lost faith in the idea that patient, boring investing can make them rich. He’s not ready to sign off on the concept of “financial nihilism,” the theory that young Americans, spooked by AI, debt, and a generally uncertain world, have decided the only rational move is to gamble on crypto, prediction markets, and parlays instead of grinding out 8% a year in an index fund.
“I don’t know if it’s real,” Kerner told Fortune in a recent interview. “I don’t have the statistics on it.”
