They are contributing to their 401(k)s much earlier than millennials did, reports show, and young women in particular are being aggressive about saving.

Brynnley Beckman is only 23, but she is already thinking about retirement.

She teaches ninth grade biology at the Shelton School in Dallas and contributes 3 percent of her salary to an employer-sponsored retirement fund. She hopes to increase her contribution by 1 percent each year.

“I wanted to start saving early because the more the money sits, the more it compounds, the more it’s going to grow,” Ms. Beckman said.

Like many of her peers in Generation Z, defined roughly as people born from 1996 to 2012, Ms. Beckman is motivated to save. According to a 2024 report from TIAA, which provides retirement planning services for employees in the education, health care and nonprofit sector, 20 percent of Gen Z-ers are saving for retirement. They’re also contributing to 401(k) plans