More Americans are giving up on long-term financial planning. Should you?

Welcome to MoneyNerd! The economy at large is failing many Americans, particularly young adults, which can lead to a shift to riskier behaviors. This week, we dig in to a phenomenon some are labeling “financial nihilism.”

Also this week: 

It’s a term coined early in the pandemic but one that really entered the cultural conversation in December, when the Wall Street Journal ran a widely discussed essay by author Kyla Scanlon: “Why My Generation Is Turning to ‘Financial Nihilism.’”

“Financial nihilism” describes, in Scanlon’s phrase, “the sense that the economic system no longer rewards prudence or long-term planning,” and it’s becoming a catch-all explanation for a basket of risky financial behaviors like crypto, sports betting, prediction markets and active trading (see “meme stocks”) that are more prevalent among younger adults.

Financial services giant Northwestern Mutual focused on “Signs of Financial Nihilism” in one section of its annual “Planning and Progress Study,” released this month. The study found that 73% of all adult respondents who make higher-risk financial plays do it because they “feel financially behind and believe high-risk/speculative investments will help reach financial goals more effectively than traditional methods.” For Gen Z the figure is 80%. 

Let’s stop to acknowledge: The system feels broken to many because, frankly, it is broken for many. At least, it doesn’t work the way it used to. Upward mobility is stunted. The job market is stagnant and entry-level jobs are scarce. Student debt is stifling. 

On top of all that, housing prices and mortgage rates are sky-high — and homeownership rates are falling. I talked to Younggeun Yoo, one of the authors of a recent study called “Giving Up” (abstract) that mines home affordability and renter sentiment data and finds links to a host of financial behaviors, from saving to spending to investing. The study was cited in an article published this month by the World Economic Forum. 

In their study, Yoo and co-author Seung Hyeong Lee (both are Ph.D. students in economics, at University of Chicago and Northwestern University, respectively) discover a threshold in renter sentiment data that divides those who feel a higher likelihood of owning a home someday from those who believe they will never own a home. 

Those above the threshold are more likely to engage in “rational” financial behaviors (like saving, maximizing their income), while those below are more likely to engage in “risky” behaviors. In its pure form, “risky” essentially adds up to making a lot of small bets, in a variety of forums, in search of one life-changing windfall. 

Author Yoo describes the move to riskier behaviors as a mindset switch: “When they realize that just accumulating their wage is not enough to be able to afford the house they want to live in, they start to have a gambling motive,” he says. “So let's buy this crypto. If it goes north, I'll be able to buy the house I want. If it goes south, well, I wasn't gonna be able to buy a house anyways.”

Here’s the kicker: After 10 years, according to “Giving Up,” those who felt some optimism about the ability to buy a home were in much better financial shape than those who were less optimistic, even if they started at an equivalent point financially, making the initial glass half-full/half-empty sentiment a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

The takeaway: Those who work toward a financial goal — whether or not they achieve it — will do better over time than those who rely on chance. That doesn’t mean the world works as it should. And some will get rich on a gamble. But for most of us, working toward a goal will set us up to be more resilient financially, especially as the world keeps changing.

- Rick VanderKnyff

As the war in the Middle East escalates, rising fuel prices are driving up airfare. 

I’ve been tracking flight prices for several trips in the next few months, and they’re certainly creeping up. It’s normal to wonder if it’s better to lock in a price now in case it goes up even more. 

While that might sound like a good idea, you have to realize that airlines have incredibly complex pricing models, and any current prices will likely have high oil prices already factored in. Bottom line: It’s too late to “beat” the airline, since fares have already gone up. 

However, there are things you can do to make sure you’re getting the best deal:

Having more flexibility keeps the control in your hands. If prices go down, you can quickly adjust to snag the deal, and if they go up, you’ll already have a ticket at the lower fare. Don’t forget to set up price-tracking alerts in Google Flights or use an award search tool like PointsYeah to help you stay on top of any price drops.

- Benjamin Din

Want more travel tips? Subscribe to NerdWallet’s Travel Nerd newsletter.

In mid-March, the head of the U.S. Postal Service notified Congress that without help, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will run out of funds as early as the fall of 2026.

“At our current rate, we’ll be out of cash in less than 12 months,” said David Steiner, postmaster general and CEO of the USPS, in testimony before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. “The Postal Service would be unable to deliver the mail.” 

A mail meltdown would be a big societal disruption, since so many things in the U.S. are handled by the USPS. Consider mail-in voting, paper bills, tax documents and medications, to name a few. 

The problem, Steiner said, is that people have substantially reduced their use of the U.S. mail, sending about half as many pieces today as they did in 2006.  

The USPS also is limited on both price increases and borrowing, among other things, and it’s required to deliver to every address in the U.S. six days a week. 

Without Congressional intervention, the USPS would likely have to drop delivery days or close some post office locations — or both, Steiner said in the committee hearing. 

“If you want to have a discussion about reducing services, we can do that too,” Steiner said. “But there’s one thing we can’t do. And that is the status quo.”

Read more about what might happen to your mail here. 

- Kate Ashford

Why does it feel like music streaming services are missing something, even though they have it all? I’m nostalgic for the days when shopping for physical albums was a regular part of my routine. So, like many others, I’ve gotten back into it.

U.S. vinyl sales have been on the rise for 19 straight years, surpassing $1 billion in 2025, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. It’s a signal that people are increasingly getting down with going analog. I think the trend is a good thing for our wallets — and our heads. Here are three reasons why:

- Tommy Tindall

What role do corporate investors actually play in making homes unaffordable, and would banning them fix the problem? 

In the news segment of the latest Smart Money podcast, NerdWallet news writer Anna Helhoski and mortgage writers Abby Badach Doyle and Kate Wood examine the data behind one of housing’s most contentious debates. They break down why institutional investors have become a political flashpoint, what the numbers reveal about who really owns most investor-held single-family homes in America, and what the proposed investor ban in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would actually mean for everyday buyers.

Watch below or get the audio version.

Your MoneyNerd team: Courtney Neidel, Anna Helhoski, Rick VanderKnyff.

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