The new financial frontline and the rear-guard
How’s that working in a digital world?
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
Across the United States and Canada, financial responsibility is shifting between generations in ways few could predict. Young people and adult children are becoming their families’ de facto financial navigators, translating bank statements, resetting passwords and protecting parents or grandparents from scams in a financial world many find unfamiliar or inaccessible.
The youngest are the frontline, often children of immigrants interpreting documents, logins and expectations between their parents and a system that mostly speaks English. The oldest are the rear-guard, managing parents’ finances as age, incapacity and digital dependency set in.
What’s driving the shift
Language and culture. In many immigrant families, kids become informal financial translators. Research from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows that Hispanic households are about three times more likely than white households to use payday loans, reflecting distrust of traditional institutions, documentation barriers and prior experiences of exclusion. In a previous article, Trust Is the New Currency, I explain that this trust gap remains a core challenge for financial inclusion.
Digital migration. Everyday tasks, from taxes to benefit applications, now require online accounts. Those uncomfortable online rely on younger relatives to navigate and protect them. In Canada, 83 percent of seniors used the internet in 2022 but fewer than six in ten used online banking, citing anxiety, memory and security concerns. In the U.S., 75 percent of adults over 65 go online, but large gaps remain in broadband access and task confidence, especially among lower-income and rural populations according to Pew Research. As services move online, many older adults depend increasingly on younger relatives for help.
Predatory alternatives. Payday and alternative lenders succeed wherever mainstream options feel inaccessible. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households (2024) found that 6 percent of adults used a payday, pawn, auto-title or tax-refund-anticipation loan that year. Usage was highest among Black (13 percent) and Hispanic (10 percent) adults but present across demographics. A 2025 Center for Responsible Lending report estimated US $2.4 billion in payday-lending fees in one year, with outlets clustered in high-poverty ZIP codes. The 2023 FDIC survey showed that three-quarters of unbanked households using check-cashing services were cashing paychecks or benefits. Digital lenders and buy-now-pay-later apps are now expanding the same tactics online into middle-income markets.
AI and misinformation. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT are transforming how people seek financial information. It’s a revolution in access, but also a new source of risk. A 2025 CFP Board study found that only 38 percent of consumers would act on AI-generated financial advice, and tests reported by Entrepreneurshowed roughly 35 percent of answers to financial questions were inaccurate or hallucinated. A global survey by KPMG and the University of Melbourne found that more than half of AI users cite misinformation and lack of trust as their top concerns. These findings underline a growing reality: fast information is not the same as trustworthy information.
Aging and access. Seniors are living longer but not always independently. Adult children now handle wills, estates and financial administration once managed by professionals. Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia warns that many people “fall off a physical and cognitive cliff” around age 75, after decades of gradual decline. Longevity experts note that preparing early, by updating financial systems and digital habits before cognitive decline, correlates with greater independence in later years. Even necessities such as groceries and prescriptions are increasingly online as physical stores close. For those in their eighties and nineties, tasks like creating secure passwords or managing two-factor authentication can be overwhelming. Families often step in, sharing accounts and codes, which increases both reliance and risk.
The rear-guard challenge. As seniors rely on their children to help manage online accounts, benefits and fraud protection, those adult children face a complex mix of legal, digital and emotional responsibilities. They are expected to understand powers of attorney, recognize digital-fraud tactics, manage logins and ensure that wills-and-estates are handled properly.
Few are equipped for the job. In Canada, one in four informal caregivers report fair or poor mental health and 47% say they feel tired, 44% worried or anxious and 37% overwhelmed because of caregiving duties. This emotional load mirrors the pressures facing younger family members navigating a financial system on behalf of parents who are digital newcomers.
Why financial literacy matters
Financial education is the most reliable lever credit unions have to reduce the costs of financial illiteracy for families and institutions alike. Studies show that individuals with higher literacy save more, default less and plan more effectively for retirement.
Research from FINRA and GFLEC finds that young people who develop financial capability through structured programs are significantly more likely to avoid high-cost borrowing and build long-term savings. Financially literate youth also stabilize family finances, especially when parents depend on them for interpretation or digital access.
For Latino and immigrant families, bilingual programs remove a major barrier to participation and give children a shared vocabulary to explain financial concepts upward. True inclusion depends on cultural relevance, relatable visuals and staff who reflect the community.
Programs like It’s a Money Thing, used by credit unions across the United State and Canada, deliver age-appropriate financial concepts on credit union websites, in classrooms and in community sessions, helping young people gain confidence early. For older audiences, credit unions can extend the same educational model through member-facing workshops and partnerships with trusted organizations to address topics such as powers of attorney, online safety and estate planning. Strengthening financial literacy at every life stage reduces confusion, lowers fraud risk and protects family assets.
How credit unions can lead
Financial literacy is more than a co-operative ideal, it’s a strategy that supports both mission and performance. Literate members save more, borrow responsibly and strengthen loan portfolios. Bilingual education programs build loyalty in emerging markets, while engaging under-25 audiences helps offset aging memberships.
Credit unions also face a growing retention risk. Many older members now rely on children for digital access, and those children often bank elsewhere. With the average credit-union member nearly a decade older than the national median, digital dependency is becoming a competitive vulnerability. Helping older members remain capable, or helping their children manage that support, keeps both generations connected. Ignoring this shift risks losing deposits and relationships.
Steps credit unions can take:
Buy into a financial education program. Commit to utilizing ready-to-use content such as It’s a Money Thing that provides a vast library of materials that are ideal for use online, in the classroom and across your organization.
Embed financial education institutionally. Integrate it into staff training, digital content and member service. Make literacy part of the credit union’s brand architecture and visible across all channels.
Extend it into the community. Partner with schools, colleges and community organizations to bring financial education where families already learn.
Host family-based workshops that include youth and elders, treating financial literacy as a shared household skill.
Offer digital literacy and scam-prevention sessions for seniors and caregivers.
Partner locally with immigrant-support and indigenous organizations to reach those outside the financial mainstream.
Train staff for cultural fluency, not just product knowledge.
Closing thought
Across languages and generations, families are asking the same question: who’s managing whose money? Credit unions that answer with education, empathy and trust aren’t just serving members, they’re securing their future membership base. Financial literacy builds both purpose and performance, strengthening member confidence, protecting families and sustaining co-operative growth across generations.
