34% of Gen Z Is Gambling Online. They Think It's Investing

What if the single biggest financial threat facing young Americans right now isn't student debt or housing prices, but a $22% credit card rate on one side and an online gambling habit disguised as investing on the other?

Beth Kobliner has been writing about personal finance since she ghostwrote Sylvia Porter's syndicated column at age 22. She spent eight years at Money Magazine, appeared with Elmo on Sesame Street to teach kids about money, served on the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans, and has now published five editions of her New York Times bestseller Get a Financial Life, the definitive money guide for people in their 20s and 30s, over 30 years and still going.

In this episode, Professor Kotlikoff sits down with Beth for a wide ranging conversation that covers compound interest, credit card debt, the rent vs. buy decision, online gambling statistics that should alarm every parent, and the timeless financial principles that have quietly made thousands of readers wealthy over three decades.

What You'll Learn:

• [00:33:04] Why starting early is the single most powerful financial move you can make: the compound interest case in plain language
• [00:38:13] Why credit card debt is worse now than it has ever been: the average rate has hit 22%, and even good credit gets you 18%
• [00:39:01] Paying off a 22% credit card is the equivalent of earning 22% guaranteed after taxes: there is nowhere else that math works
• [00:37:23] The index fund case: Fidelity at .015%, Vanguard at .03%, and you can start with as little as a dollar
• [00:41:42] When the stock market is the wrong place for your savings: the down payment scenario and the high-yield savings account alternative
• [00:50:48] 34% of Gen Z gambles online regularly, and one in four young people believe prediction markets are a form of investing
• [00:52:38] Two-thirds of prediction market winnings go to one-tenth of 1% of accounts: who is actually winning, and who is losing
• [00:43:09] The "different selves" framework: why your current self is the fiduciary for your middle-aged and retired self, whether you like it or not
• [00:49:17] State and local housing programs most young buyers have never heard of: the National Council of State Housing Agencies and what it offers
• [00:29:03] Why connections are not cheating: how Beth landed every major career opportunity, and why her father's approach still works in 2026

Featured Guest:

Beth Kobliner is a personal finance journalist, author of two New York Times bestsellers, and a member of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans. She has written for Money Magazine, The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, PBS NewsHour, CNN, and MSNBC. She is currently working with the Heckscher Foundation to create a financial literacy curriculum for New York City high school students.

Resources Mentioned:

• Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties (5th Edition) by Beth Kobliner, the definitive guide now over half a million copies sold across 30 years:
  https://www.amazon.com/Get-Financial-Life-Personal-Twenties/dp/1668095351
• Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You're Not): A Parents' Guide for Kids 3 to 23 by Beth Kobliner, translated into nine languages:
  https://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Money-Genius-Youre/dp/1476766819

• Beth Kobliner's website — resources, recommendations, and updates:
  https://bethkobliner.com
• National Council of State Housing Agencies — state and local homebuyer assistance programs:
  https://www.ncsha.org
• Economics Matters Substack (Larry Kotlikoff):
  https://larrykotlikoff.substack.com

Economics Matters: The Podcast is hosted by Larry Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics at Boston University.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed on Economics Matters are those of the authors and guests. These are not the opinions of Boston University or Economic Security Planning, Inc.