56% of Young Adults Use Apps to Manage Their Money. Among Americans 55 and Older, It’s 26%
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Americans track their money with paper registers and with budgeting apps, and both show where the money went. Which one an American reaches for depends largely on age, according to the FINRA Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study, a large national survey of how adults handle money.
The 2024 wave asked people whether they use websites or apps for tasks like budgeting, saving, or managing credit. Overall, 42% said yes, the same share as in 2021. So the apps haven’t taken over the way you might expect.
Ranking the Age Groups by Money App Use
The study’s three age groups rank as follows in using websites or apps for budgeting or financial management:
- Ages 18 to 34: 56%
- Ages 35 to 54: 48%
- People 55 and older: 26%
That’s a 30-point spread from top to bottom. Young adults use these tools at a much higher rate than people 55 and older. Habit explains part of the gap. Someone who opened a first bank account on a phone never needed a paper register.
Younger adults also juggle more debt. The study found 35% of 18- to 34-year-olds have student loans, compared with 8% of those 55 and older. An app that shows every balance in one place helps when there are several bills to keep straight.
Most Americans Still Say No to AI Money Advice
The 2024 survey added a new question: would you want financial advice from artificial intelligence, the computer programs that answer questions in plain language? Only 20% said yes. Another 59% said no, and 21% weren’t sure.
Answers on this question also varied widely by age. Respondents under 55 were much more likely to want AI advice. Interest ran 30% among 18- to 34-year-olds and 23% among those 35 to 54, but just 8% for people 55 and older. The survey didn’t define “artificial intelligence” for anyone, so folks may have pictured very different things.
What an App Can Do for Retirees
For older adults, a money app makes its keep in three plain ways. It tracks spending automatically, sorting groceries from gas to pharmacy purchases without anyone adding up receipts. It sends bill reminders, so an insurance premium doesn’t slip by. And it shows transactions quickly, so a strange charge stands out fast, which is often how fraud gets caught early.
Older Americans, the group least likely to use these tools, hold a large share of household wealth. Households headed by someone 55 to 69 held 41% of all U.S. household net worth in the second quarter of 2026, and households 70 and older held 33.6%, according to Federal Reserve data. That wealth is concentrated in the age groups least likely to use money apps.
Safety Checks Before Linking a Bank Account
Most budgeting apps work by linking to a bank account, and how they connect matters. When the nation’s consumer finance watchdog settled its data-rights rule in 2024, it called screen scraping “a still common but risky practice that typically involves consumers providing their account passwords to third parties.” A safer setup sends you to your bank’s own login page to approve access, so the app never sees your password.
Passwords and one-time codes should stay private. Banks routinely warn they’ll never call or text asking for them. Scammers lean on trusted names, and the CFPB warns that criminals even pose as the CFPB itself. The same trick shows up as fake apps and phony AI chatbots offering money help. In its complaint report, the CFPB said consumers described impersonation scams that led to account takeovers, and companies often denied responsibility by pointing to their terms of service. Our guides on payment scams and credit freezes cover the next layer of protection.
Paper Budget Still Works When It Gets Used
A pencil-and-paper budget still does the job, as long as someone actually keeps it. Writing down every purchase slows down spending and makes each dollar visible. A paper ledger can’t be hacked, either. Given that the average household spent $81,905 in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that’s plenty of dollars going out the door to track either way. Ultimately, an app nobody opens does less good than a notebook filled in every Sunday night.
One Setting Worth Turning On Today
Whichever side of the age gap someone lands on, one step works for everybody: turn on account alerts from the bank itself. Most banks offer free text or email alerts for purchases over a set amount, low balances, and new logins. They come straight from the bank, so no outside app gets access to anything. An alert pairs just as well with a paper register as with a phone. When a charge shows up that nobody made, the alert arrives within minutes, while the register might not catch it until the statement comes.
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David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
