Generational Money Mindsets: Spending, Saving, and Investing

How Filipinos across generations are redefining what “money” means to them

From Gen Z’s side hustles to Boomers’ legacy plans, money means different things to every generation. For some, it’s freedom, while for others, it’s security, comfort, or survival. And over the last decade, with the pandemic period having a major impact, the Filipino relationship with money has transformed in different ways.

Since 2015, Acumen has tracked how Filipino generations think, spend, save, and invest. What we’re now seeing in 2025 through Project Alphabet is not just a change in financial behavior, it’s a complete shift in meaning. Filipinos today think about money with far more intentionality, discipline, and long-term focus than ever before.

1. From Survival to Intentionality: The Pandemic Effect

If finances in 2015 was a source of aspiration and stress for Filipinos, finances in 2025 has come to be defined by something new: Intentionality toward financial stability. Before the pandemic, many Filipinos, especially the younger generations, viewed money through a day-to-day lens. Budgets were flexible, purchases were spontaneous, and “future planning” felt like something only older generations worried about.

But the pandemic created a collective awakening. It reminded every Filipino, regardless of age, that life can change overnight. Uncertainty became real. Stability can disappear overnight, emergencies can happen anytime, and financial preparedness is not optional.  Financial security now represents independence and peace of mind.

1. Money Has Shifted in Meaning Across Generations

For Gen Z and Millennials, money represents freedom with responsibility and independence. Gen Zs seek independence, spending on experiences and things that they deem meaningful for them and worth their hard-earned money. Millennials desire the ability to spend without guilt, balancing indulgence with discipline while keeping family obligations in mind. Both generations want as much money as possible not for status, but for the ability to live comfortably without anxiety, guilt, or reliance on others.

For Gen X and Boomers, money continues to symbolize provision and duty. They take pride in giving their families a comfortable life, settling obligations first, and finding fulfillment in providing. For them, financial security is not just a personal goal, it is a legacy to sustain their loved ones.

This cross-generational shift is the backdrop of everything else. It reshapes how each generation spends, saves, spends, invests, and aspires.

1. Savings at the Forefront

Saving has now become a great equalizer across generations — a behavior once associated only with older generations. Today, every generation treats savings as a non-negotiable, with Gen Zs building emergency funds earlier, older generations reinforcing their buffers, and families openly discussing financial planning in ways that used to be somewhat taboo.

Saving is no longer just a mathematical exercise, it is emotional. Though motivations differ, the mindset is shared: Savings give security, and in today’s world, that security is what gives Filipinos confidence, calm, and control over their future.

Across all age groups, saving has become more intentional and disciplined.

• Gen Zs save to gain independence, using digital banks, e-wallet pockets, and micro-investing apps to build small but consistent buffers.
• Gen Ys save to achieve financial freedom without guilt, the ability to enjoy life without compromising responsibilities.
• Gen Xers save to secure a comfortable life for their family, prioritizing education funds, insurance, and future-proofing the household.
• Boomers save to continue supporting not just themselves but also their children and even their grandchildren. They are focusing on health, legacy, and stability.

1. Spending Mindset: Practical, Intentional, Family-First

Across all generations, a clear shift is visible: practicality is the new priority, and Filipinos now spend only on what truly matters. Each generation has quietly redefined value — favoring intentionality, quality, and family-first consumption. In this new era, every peso must serve a purpose, reflect responsibility, and support the people who matter most.

Gen Zs, raised in a world of constant trends and temptations, are learning to minimize impulsive  purchases made on a whim. They’ll still spend for the things that spark joy, but only if the purchase feels sulit and genuinely “mapapa-happy talaga ako.” For them, value is emotional and practical at the same time: enjoy life, but never irresponsibly.

Gen Ys echo this mindset but from a more mature, life-stage perspective—rewarding themselves occasionally, but only after family needs are secured. They’ve embraced delayed gratification, choosing to spend for themselves only when the essentials and obligations of the household are covered.

Meanwhile, Gen X and Boomers remain anchored in a family-first spending mindset — prioritizing needs over wants, choosing durability over trendiness, and finding joy in providing for children and especially grandchildren. When extra funds allow, they reward themselves as a well-earned payoff after years of hard work, but practicality continues to guide their everyday decisions.

1. Investing Mindset: Growing Wealth While Safeguarding What Matters

Across generations, Filipinos now see investing as a pathway to freedom, protection, and long-term possibility — a shift driven by both experience and aspiration.

• Gen Z and Gen Ys prefer passive, low-effort investment routes such as real estate, condos for rent, or gold, largely because their focus is still on building careers or businesses. But once they understand something deeply, they become surprisingly aggressive (e.g. automating crypto or forex trading, or venturing into new business categories after researching financial returns.) As one Gen Y said, “Wala namang nagturo sa akin mag-invest — nag-search lang ako online. Trial and error talaga.”
• Gen X and Boomers, meanwhile, gravitate toward stable, appreciating assets they can pass on to their families (e.g. house and lot, farms, MP2, gold jewelry, or rental properties) always guided by the belief that wealth built slowly and safely protects the next generation. For them, investing is never impulsive; it is deliberate, sustainable, and rooted in stewardship.

Within this broader investment mindset, insurance has emerged as one of the most valued and universal forms of protection. What used to be seen as a product you “only benefit from when you’re gone” is now understood as a smart financial shield — something that secures health, safeguards income, and ensures family stability no matter what happens.

• A Gen Z captures it simply: “Insurance is peace of mind.”
• Gen Ys now appreciate its living benefits — “Ngayon, may value na habang buhay ka.”
• Gen X and Boomers consider insurance as something that is intertwined with responsibility and legacy: “Meron akong life insurance. Para sa pamilya ko ‘pag wala na ako,” “Importante talaga insurance… may maiiwan ka sa pamilya.”

Across all generations, insurance has become both an investment and a safety net — offering stability, emotional assurance, and the confidence that families will be protected in the present and in the future.

What this multi-generational story shows us is simple but powerful: Filipinos are no longer managing money just for survival, they’re managing it with intention. At the end of the day, money has become more than currency, it’s a reflection of the Filipino’s hopes, fears, values, and dreams.

And as these generational money mindsets continue to evolve, business leaders who stay fluent, empathetic, and forward-looking will be the ones who build brands and organizations that truly connect, serve, and endure. — Kristine Joyce Erni Santos, Program Director and Strategist for Commercial Strategy, Acumen (www.acumen.com.ph)

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