Gen Z has grown up as a fast-paced generation—quick to learn, quick to adapt, and eager to pursue what they want. Many Gen Zers have started planning their lives more intentionally: saving their own money, getting into investing, and even thinking about their future despite being early in their careers. All of this comes from one simple desire: to live more stably and have options.
At this stage, stability isn’t just about finances or building assets, it’s also about protecting yourself, including maintaining your health, whose risks can be unpredictable. Life circumstances can shift at any moment, and Gen Z is no exception. With a strong financial foundation, the risk of draining your savings can be minimized. Let’s take a look at three key financial foundations Gen Z needs to prepare to keep growing confidently and stay calm throughout their career journey:
1. Savings: The First Step in Every Plan
Every financial journey begins with one simple habit: consistently setting aside a portion of your income. Savings act as your first buffer for short-term needs and emergencies. With solid savings and an emergency fund, unexpected events won’t immediately derail the bigger plans you’re working toward.
However, savings are often misunderstood as the primary solution to every risk, including health-related ones. In reality, a single critical illness can wipe out the funds you’ve set aside for other goals, such as a house down payment or seed capital for a business.
2. Investment: The Pillar of Wealth Growth
Once you have built a solid savings foundation, investing becomes the next step to grow your money. In today’s digital age, investing is more accessible than ever, from mutual funds and bonds to stocks. Investing can help you reach financial goals faster and unlock growth opportunities that savings alone cannot offer.
However, investing also comes with an important reality namely market risk. Investment values can rise or fall depending on economic conditions, which means the results are not always stable. When the market slows down, asset values may decline and disrupt your financial plans. That is why understanding your risk profile before you start investing is crucial.
3. Protection: The Often Overlooked Guardian of Financial Stability
In addition to preparing financially through savings and investments, for financial plans to succeed, a buffer is needed to maintain financial stability when conditions do not go as expected. This is the pillar that is often overlooked: self-protection. Many Gen Zers focus on building assets and pursuing growth but forget that health risks can come at any time and to anyone.
A fast-paced lifestyle often leads to unhealthy habits, such as lack of sleep, stress, and consuming fast food, making a person more susceptible to critical illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. When this happens, income can be temporarily interrupted, and cash flow can be disrupted. Ultimately, a well-planned financial plan can be thrown off course. On the other hand, living expenses such as rent or boarding house fees, vehicle installments, and other necessities must still be paid.
Critical illnesses require significant medical expenses, and without proper protection, savings and investments can quickly be depleted just to cover medical costs. That is why life and health protection are essential foundations for maintaining long-term financial stability.
The good news is that insurance is now more accessible digitally: it can be selected, purchased, and managed online anytime and anywhere. It is practical, fast, and aligned with Gen Z's lifestyle.
To address this need, BCA and BCA Life offer comprehensive critical illness protection through the MyGuard - Critical Care Insurance Package, with coverage of up to IDR 1 billion*. With premiums starting from IDR 20,000 per month**, you can get protection against critical illnesses such as cancer, stroke, and heart disease, without the need for a medical check-up.
What are you waiting for? Complete your financial protection with the MyGuard - Critical Care Insurance Package from BCA Life through the “Protection” feature in the myBCA app.
* Depending on the plan chosen by the prospective customer
** Depending on the conditions of each prospective customer