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Many young people have recently discovered the stock market.
According to a study by “Aktion proShare”, a merger of several online brokers, 39 percent of Germans now own less than 25 shares.
Three years ago it was only 26 percent.
Often they are very speculative and often also involved in crypto currencies.
But Generation Z, as the under 25-year-olds are also known, surprisingly also has a special preference for gold.
This is the result of a current study by Reisebank and the CFin - Research Center for Financial Services at Steinbeis University Berlin.
According to this, 23.3 percent of this generation bought gold during the pandemic, compared to only 15.6 percent of the total population.
Source: WORLD infographic
“It definitely surprised us that Generation Z, the young people, invested significantly more than the average in gold,” says Jens Kleine, professor at the Steinbeis University who carried out the study.
"Apparently the arguments in favor of gold, such as value protection and inflation protection, have clearly come to bear in this generation too."
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According to the study, the younger generation is also astonishingly traditional when it comes to choosing where to buy gold. "It is especially young people who, when buying gold, are apparently making greater use of the option of buying gold in person on site in a bank," says Christof Wilms, head trader at the Reisebank. However, they also use securities, such as gold ETFs, for their investments more often than the older investors. Savers acquire shares in a fund, which in turn usually invests in physical gold.
However, the younger ones invested less money than the older ones.
On average it was around 2900 euros, compared to 4550 in the total population.
That is only logical, since the younger ones naturally have less wealth.
They also use securities, such as gold ETFs, more often than older investors.
Savers acquire shares in a fund, which in turn usually invests in physical gold.
But the younger ones also place significantly more importance on the origin of the gold.
“In Generation Z, the aspect of the unambiguous origin of a product is much higher than that of older consumers,” says Kleine.
"This customer group also takes the sustainability aspect into account when purchasing gold and is quite prepared to spend more money on 'sustainable' gold."
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Across Germany, gold holdings have increased from 8918 to 9089 tons since 2019.
This corresponds to around five percent of the total gold inventory worldwide.
There has recently been a significant increase in bars and coins in this country in particular.
Every German today has an average of 75 grams, compared to 71 grams two years ago.
The possession of jewelry, however, fell slightly, from 58 to 56 grams per German citizen.
41 percent of gold owners in Germany store this in a locker at their bank. Two years ago it was only 41.5 percent.
On the other hand, the proportion of those who keep the precious metal at home fell slightly from 38.3 to 38 percent.
For this, precious metal deposits are becoming increasingly popular with special providers.
Their share has more than doubled, from five to 10.7 percent.
Source: WORLD infographic
And why do the Germans bet on gold?
For 43.0 percent, it serves to maintain the value and protect their own assets.
A third see gold as protection against inflation, 23.2 percent see it as a rescue in the event of a currency reform.
On the other hand, only 17.6 percent buy gold because they are hoping for a price increase.
One in six sees gold as a status symbol.
That should be those who flaunt gold chains.
And after all, 31.3 percent buy gold simply for the sake of aesthetics.
They just enjoy it.