Twenty-four, with a six-figure net worth: Meet the Gen Z influencer who started investing at age 18

“It sounds ridiculous, but I remember being in college and buying gold for €1, and like, silver for like, €2,” laughs Zainab Adeyemi, a 24-year-old chartered accountant from Dublin.

The financial content creator recently celebrated a personal milestone after managing to generate a €100,000 portfolio across her pension, savings and investments. She began experimenting with money in the stock market just six years ago at the age of 18.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you can really “start investing for as little as one euro”, as you hear in advertisements for trading apps and platforms, you’ll want to listen to the latest episode of the Better with Money podcast.

Adeyemi has carved out a niche on social media for having built her wealth from scratch and sharing investment tips with fellow Irish Gen Zs.

She reveals her interest in investing started early, at the age of 14, and was likely driven by the fact she grew up in money “survival mode”.

Having pored over financial content on social media for years, she downloaded a trading app when she finally turned 18 and started depositing small sums of money.

“It was very, very small amounts that I felt comfortable parting ways with as a uni student. And eventually I started earning a good salary, so I think I started on 28K, and I realised that, you know, it is time for you to learn what you’re doing with the money that you are accumulating and letting stay in your savings account.”

Having initially planned to save to get on the property ladder, Adeyemi changed course.

“I was saving every penny, cutting corners everywhere I could, but it made me absolutely miserable. And I checked in with myself and I was like, ‘Why? Why is this? Like, this is what I’m supposed to be aspiring for, right?’ And it just made me realise that I’m someone who really values flexibility, and I value independence, and buying a home would be me tying myself to a specific location for the medium to long term.”

Now her goal is to become “work optional” by 40. Given the economic context of Ireland in 2026, the housing crisis and the affordability crisis for her peers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Adeyemi considers herself an outlier. Spoiler alert: she does not.

“I think that Gen Z in particular has been really interested in the concept of building that financial safety net. A lot of Gen Z are quite savvy with their money, but they just choose what they invest in. For some people, that is travel, and for others, like me, it could be trying to maximise your pension.”

You can listen to the conversation on the player above or search for Better with Money wherever you get your podcasts, but please note, it’s for information purposes only and doesn’t constitute financial advice.

• This episode is brought to you in association with Standard Life.