Exclusive: Lower-income, Gen Z people are investing at record rates, data shows

Stock market investing is at record highs, with some new demographic trends: Younger people are investing earlier, and lower-income people are investing more, new research from the JPMorganChase Institute shows.Why it matters: Those investing patterns come amid a decline in first-time home ownership, suggesting a shift in how young people are planning to build wealth, which could have serious policy and economic implications.What they're saying: "Fewer 25-year-olds own a home, but more 25-year-olds are investing in the stock market," says George Eckerd, research director at JPMorgan Chase. By the numbers: As of early 2025, people with below-median incomes were five times more likely to be adding money to financial investments than they were a decade ago. About a third of 25-year-olds have investment accounts today.That's a sixfold increase relative to 2015.Men tend to be more active investors than women, with a slight uptick in that gap seen in November 2024, perhaps tied to "political outcomes," the researchers note.Zoom in: While investing has increased, personal savings has been relatively depressed. Median real cash balances and income growth are still low compared with levels before the pandemic. That could indicate that dip-buying and trend-chasing is inspiring more investing."Unless bolstered by fundamental drivers—i.e., a rising saving rate, supported by income growth—there are limits to how much the investing trend could continue," the study notes. Between the lines: The researchers behind the study attribute the increase in investing to three things.The pandemic, which led to more time at home and more time to trade, coupled with stimulus checks that padded consumer balance sheets to allow for investing. Technology, which made investing more accessible and "gamified." Prices. Researchers saw that record high prices, particularly in crypto, drove higher interest. Yes, but: There's an increased willingness for younger people to participate in markets, but their ability to participate isn't the same, Eckerd says. This shows up in the tracking of money flows when younger investors are moving money from checking to investment accounts, for example. Younger and lower income people are more "responsive to price," meaning they may see a record high, or even a dip, and buy, says Chris Wheat, president at the JPMorganChase Institute.But that activity tends to trickle off, which suggests these investors may not be doing "the most healthy thing" and are instead "keying off what the market's doing," Eckerd notes. Be Smart: Traditional financial advice would caution investors to practice dollar-cost averaging, consistently buying into the market at regular intervals, rather than reacting to market prices. Investors who buy at highs are getting in "after the fact," Wheat says, meaning they're often behind. What we're watching: Is this a group of trend-chasers, or the future of investing? Wall Street is already navigating an increasing cohort of retail investors.If consumers start investing sooner, retail activity could strengthen, and become an even bigger force for institutional investors to reckon with.

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