A recent survey by BMO indicates a rising trend of Americans, especially Generation Z, employing artificial intelligence to manage their finances and investments.
Drawing from the BMO Real Financial Progress Index, it found 37 percent of Americans, nearly two-fifths, are utilizing AI for various financial tasks. Within that group, nearly half say they use AI to learn about personal finance (49 percent), create or update household budgets (48 percent), identify new investment strategies (47 percent), build savings (47 percent), and formulate financial plans (46 percent).
Despite AI's growing role in financial management, roughly two-thirds of all respondents (64 percent) believe AI falls short in understanding the emotional aspects of financial planning.
"AI offers great potential in the way we handle our finances, providing real-time insights and analysis,” Paul Dilda, head of US consumer strategy at BMO, said in a statement. “However, managing money is more than analytics; it is a deeply personal relationship shaped by emotions, experiences, and unique life circumstances."
Beyond financial planning, the survey touched on how Americans are integrating AI into their daily lives.
A significant number of US adults polled said they use AI to broaden their intellectual horizons, with 59 percent asking AI questions on topics of interest and another 40 percent using it for data analysis. Thirty-nine percent say they use AI for productivity, leveraging it for business, travel, exercise, and meal plans as well as scheduling tasks.
Ultimately, more than half of respondents to BMO’s survey believe AI will help people make more informed financial decisions (53 percent) and lower barriers to access for financial planning (52 percent).
The survey also highlights an optimistic outlook among those not yet using AI for finances. Nearly a third are considering AI for learning personal finance topics (32 percent), increasing savings (31 percent), finding new investment strategies (29 percent), and planning for retirement (27 percent).
Generation Z showed the highest engagement with AI, with 61 percent using it for financial and investment management. Nearly as many Gen Zers (58 percent) agreed that AI can help empower people to make more informed financial choices, while 55 percent were bullish on the technology as a tool to help them make financial progress.
Those results mirror earlier findings by Northwestern Mutual, which revealed more than half of Gen Z and millennial Americans were optimistic about AI’s ability to help them reach their financial goals.
The young investors BMO surveyed are looking to AI as they face pivotal life moments. In the last six months, Gen Z respondents to BMO’s polling have gone through significant milestones including large purchases (22 percent), attending college (18 percent), job changes (15 percent), and starting businesses (13 percent).
When asked to name the sources of their financial anxiety, 85 percent of the young adult crowd said they’re concerned with their overall financial situation, followed by fear of unknown expenses (80 percent), housing costs (79 percent), and keeping their bills paid month to month (76 percent).
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