SMBC Consumer Finance Survey: How Gen Z and Young Professionals Find Meaning in Money Spending – 'Saving for the Future' Ranks 1st for Men, 'Rewarding Myself for Hard Work' Ranks 1st for Women
SMBC Consumer Finance has released the re-aggregated results of its 'Generational Gap Survey 2025'. The survey analyzes differences in money spending habits and cost-performance awareness between Gen Z/young professionals and their superiors/seniors. It reveals that young men prioritize 'saving for the future', while young women prioritize 'rewarding themselves for hard work'.
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- 📰 Published: May 2, 2026 at 00:05
- 🔍 Collected: May 1, 2026 at 15:32
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 1, 2026 at 16:43 (1h 11m after Collected)
SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd. (Representative Director and President: Terumasa Takahashi, https://www.smbc-cf.com, service brand 'Promise', hereinafter 'the Company') has re-aggregated questions related to daily life and money from its 'Generational Gap Survey 2025' as the new fiscal year fully commences this May. To understand the differences in awareness between generations, we are releasing 'Generational Gap Survey: Daily Life and Money Edition', which re-edits and focuses on the results for Gen Z/young professionals and their superiors/seniors. (Survey cooperation: NetAsia Inc.)
**Survey Overview**
* **Target Audience:** 500 Gen Z/young professionals (employed men and women aged 18-29), 500 superiors/seniors (employed men and women aged 30-69)
* **Survey Period:** July 30 - August 1, 2025
**[Survey Results]**
**Cost-Performance Awareness in Daily Life**
**Gap in cost-performance awareness among Gen Z/young professionals by annual income**
Regarding the percentage of people who are conscious of cost-performance, looking at it by generation and annual income, among Gen Z/young professionals, the awareness rate was 59.4% for those with an annual income of less than 4 million yen, while for those with an annual income of 4 million yen or more, the awareness rate was 68.9%, showing a difference of 9.5 percentage points.
On the other hand, among superiors/seniors, the overall awareness rate was higher compared to Gen Z/young professionals, regardless of annual income.
**Information Sources for Product/Service Purchases for Those Conscious of Cost-Performance**
**Gen Z/young professionals show a high rate of referring to SNS**
Regarding what people who are conscious of cost-performance refer to when purchasing products and services, looking at it by generation, 'user reviews' and 'television' were more than 10 percentage points higher for superiors/seniors compared to Gen Z/young professionals.
Conversely, among Gen Z/young professionals, 'Instagram' was 21.1 percentage points higher and 'X' was 15.1 percentage points higher than superiors/seniors.
It seems that many Gen Z/young professionals who are conscious of cost-performance use SNS such as Instagram and X as information sources.
**Meaningful Ways to Spend Money**
**Among Gen Z/young professionals, 'saving' for those with annual income less than 6 million yen, 'asset management' for those with 6 million yen or more**
**Among superiors/seniors, 'saving' is in the TOP 3 across all income brackets**
Regarding meaningful ways to spend money, looking at it by generation and annual income, 'spending on rewards for hard work' was in the TOP 3 across all income brackets for both Gen Z/young professionals and superiors/seniors.
Also, among superiors/seniors, 'saving for the future' was in the TOP 3 across all income brackets.
On the other hand, among Gen Z/young professionals, 'saving for the future' was in the TOP 3 for those with an annual income of less than 3 million yen and those with an annual income of 3 million yen to less than 6 million yen, whereas for those with an annual income of 6 million yen or more, 'investing for future asset management' ranked 2nd.
It may be that a higher percentage of Gen Z/young professionals with relatively higher incomes are highly conscious of increasing their assets.
**Meaningful Ways to Spend Money**
**Among Gen Z/young professionals, 'for the future' has higher priority; among superiors/seniors, 'for others' has higher priority**
When several items regarding meaningful ways to spend money were integrated and re-aggregated, 'spending for myself' ranked 1st for both Gen Z/young professionals and superiors/seniors. Furthermore, for Gen Z/young professionals, 'spending for the future' ranked 2nd and 'spending for others' ranked 3rd, while for superiors/seniors, 'spending for others' ranked 2nd and 'spending for the future' ranked 3rd. Although the contents in the TOP 3 were similar for both generations, the rankings differed. It was observed that Gen Z/young professionals prioritize spending 'for the future' over 'for others', while superiors/seniors prioritize spending 'for others' over 'for the future'.
**Meaningful Ways to Spend Money for Gen Z/Young Professionals**
**'Saving for the future' ranks 1st for men**
**'Rewarding myself for hard work' ranks 1st for women**
Regarding meaningful ways to spend money, looking at it by generation and gender, among Gen Z/young professional men, 'saving for the future' ranked 1st, and among women, 'rewarding myself for hard work' ranked 1st.
Among superiors/seniors, 'spending for family and partners' ranked 1st for both men and women, whereas it did not appear in the top 3 for Gen Z/young professionals. It is likely that for superiors/seniors, the importance of spending money for others increases due to life stage changes.
Also, among superior/senior women, 'rewarding myself for hard work' ranked 1st (tied) as it did for Gen Z/young professional women. It seems that many women, regardless of generation, value spending on themselves.
**Things to enrich life even by borrowing money to increase happiness**
**'Travel' ranks 1st for both men and women among superiors/seniors**
Looking at what people want to enrich even by borrowing money to increase their current happiness, by generation, 'hobbies' for Gen Z/young professional men.
**Survey Overview**
* **Target Audience:** 500 Gen Z/young professionals (employed men and women aged 18-29), 500 superiors/seniors (employed men and women aged 30-69)
* **Survey Period:** July 30 - August 1, 2025
**[Survey Results]**
**Cost-Performance Awareness in Daily Life**
**Gap in cost-performance awareness among Gen Z/young professionals by annual income**
Regarding the percentage of people who are conscious of cost-performance, looking at it by generation and annual income, among Gen Z/young professionals, the awareness rate was 59.4% for those with an annual income of less than 4 million yen, while for those with an annual income of 4 million yen or more, the awareness rate was 68.9%, showing a difference of 9.5 percentage points.
On the other hand, among superiors/seniors, the overall awareness rate was higher compared to Gen Z/young professionals, regardless of annual income.
**Information Sources for Product/Service Purchases for Those Conscious of Cost-Performance**
**Gen Z/young professionals show a high rate of referring to SNS**
Regarding what people who are conscious of cost-performance refer to when purchasing products and services, looking at it by generation, 'user reviews' and 'television' were more than 10 percentage points higher for superiors/seniors compared to Gen Z/young professionals.
Conversely, among Gen Z/young professionals, 'Instagram' was 21.1 percentage points higher and 'X' was 15.1 percentage points higher than superiors/seniors.
It seems that many Gen Z/young professionals who are conscious of cost-performance use SNS such as Instagram and X as information sources.
**Meaningful Ways to Spend Money**
**Among Gen Z/young professionals, 'saving' for those with annual income less than 6 million yen, 'asset management' for those with 6 million yen or more**
**Among superiors/seniors, 'saving' is in the TOP 3 across all income brackets**
Regarding meaningful ways to spend money, looking at it by generation and annual income, 'spending on rewards for hard work' was in the TOP 3 across all income brackets for both Gen Z/young professionals and superiors/seniors.
Also, among superiors/seniors, 'saving for the future' was in the TOP 3 across all income brackets.
On the other hand, among Gen Z/young professionals, 'saving for the future' was in the TOP 3 for those with an annual income of less than 3 million yen and those with an annual income of 3 million yen to less than 6 million yen, whereas for those with an annual income of 6 million yen or more, 'investing for future asset management' ranked 2nd.
It may be that a higher percentage of Gen Z/young professionals with relatively higher incomes are highly conscious of increasing their assets.
**Meaningful Ways to Spend Money**
**Among Gen Z/young professionals, 'for the future' has higher priority; among superiors/seniors, 'for others' has higher priority**
When several items regarding meaningful ways to spend money were integrated and re-aggregated, 'spending for myself' ranked 1st for both Gen Z/young professionals and superiors/seniors. Furthermore, for Gen Z/young professionals, 'spending for the future' ranked 2nd and 'spending for others' ranked 3rd, while for superiors/seniors, 'spending for others' ranked 2nd and 'spending for the future' ranked 3rd. Although the contents in the TOP 3 were similar for both generations, the rankings differed. It was observed that Gen Z/young professionals prioritize spending 'for the future' over 'for others', while superiors/seniors prioritize spending 'for others' over 'for the future'.
**Meaningful Ways to Spend Money for Gen Z/Young Professionals**
**'Saving for the future' ranks 1st for men**
**'Rewarding myself for hard work' ranks 1st for women**
Regarding meaningful ways to spend money, looking at it by generation and gender, among Gen Z/young professional men, 'saving for the future' ranked 1st, and among women, 'rewarding myself for hard work' ranked 1st.
Among superiors/seniors, 'spending for family and partners' ranked 1st for both men and women, whereas it did not appear in the top 3 for Gen Z/young professionals. It is likely that for superiors/seniors, the importance of spending money for others increases due to life stage changes.
Also, among superior/senior women, 'rewarding myself for hard work' ranked 1st (tied) as it did for Gen Z/young professional women. It seems that many women, regardless of generation, value spending on themselves.
**Things to enrich life even by borrowing money to increase happiness**
**'Travel' ranks 1st for both men and women among superiors/seniors**
Looking at what people want to enrich even by borrowing money to increase their current happiness, by generation, 'hobbies' for Gen Z/young professional men.