Although young adults are interested in finance, their financial competence, especially about the topic of retirement, is fairly thin. With a large sample of members of Generation Z (ages 18–25, n = 1,311), I explored whether young adults talk about retirement with others; and the correlates between talking about retirement and retirement preparation. Participants reported whether they have spoken about retirement with nine sources: parents, siblings, other family members (non-parent; non-sibling), friends, significant others, co-workers, financial advisors, people on internet forums, and “other sources.” All participants reported to have discussed retirement with at least one source, with parents being the most common. Young adults’ attitudes towards retirement preparation were largely positive. For example, participants acknowledged the importance of learning about retirement and experienced more positive than negative affect when thinking about retirement. Behavioral measures of retirement preparation did not yield any effects, showing a potential gap between young adults’ retirement preparation attitudes and behavior. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the effect of retirement conversations on retirement preparation varied by source. I tie the findings into past research and discuss practical implications.

尽管年轻人对金融感兴趣，但他们的金融能力，尤其是在退休话题方面，却相当薄弱。拥有大量 Z 世代成员（18-25 岁，n = 1,311），我探讨了年轻人是否与他人谈论退休；以及谈论退休和退休准备之间的相关性。参与者报告了他们是否通过九个来源谈论过退休：父母、兄弟姐妹、其他家庭成员（非父母；非兄弟姐妹）、朋友、重要的其他人、同事、财务顾问、互联网论坛上的人以及“其他来源。” 据报道，所有参与者都与至少一个来源讨论过退休问题，其中父母是最常见的。年轻人对退休准备的态度基本上是积极的。例如，参与者承认了解退休的重要性，并且在考虑退休时体验到的积极影响多于消极影响。退休准备的行为措施没有产生任何影响，显示年轻人的退休准备态度和行为之间的潜在差距。多元回归分析显示，退休谈话对退休准备的影响因来源而异。我将这些发现与过去的研究联系起来，并讨论实际意义。