Financial advisors have enough to worry about regarding Gen Y and the implications this demographic has on the future of the planning industry, and now people are already talking about Gen Z? Aren’t they a little young to worry about from a financial planning perspective?

Not so, says Raddon, a financial services research and analytics division of Fiserv. In a recent study entitled, “Generation Z: The Kids Are All Right,” the firm surveyed more than 2,500 high school students ages 16 to 18, a cohort Raddon describes as being born beginning in the year 2000. This is the first generation of true digital natives whose constant connectivity via mobile devices and social media is as second nature to them as breathing. Most of this group is probably still getting an allowance from Mom and Dad, but some have jobs and as a whole they’re getting exposed to—and are knowledgeable of—financial topics at a younger age than preceding generations.

According to the Raddon study, 35% of Gen Z have attended a financial education program or seminar while only 12% of millennials have, 11% of Gen X have and 16% of both baby boomers and traditionalists have. (Traditionalists were born from the mid-’20s to the mid-’40s.) More than half of Gen Zers in the study said they attended compulsory financial education programs at their school, which gives them a leg up on previous generations in handling their finances.

“Adults in general have sort of learned personal finance on the fly,” says Andrew Vahrenkamp, a senior research analyst and product manager at Raddon and the author of the Gen Z report. He adds that this is reflected in the large number of Americans with personal debt problems.

Raddon classifies Gen Z into three distinct segments according to their attitudes about finances, technology and financial institutions: “Conventionals” are more apt to want to handle their finances with people face to face. “Digitals” prefer to conduct their finances through digital or electronic channels but also believe they’ll still have to rely on traditional providers in the future. And “pioneers” are on the bleeding edge of technology and believe their future financial service needs will be met by an array of providers.

Regardless of segment, says Vahrenkamp, most Gen Zers will eventually rely on humans to some degree to deal with their finances. That means winning their business will require good communication, as well as services and strategies that speak to their unique experiences and preferences.

And that’s important for financial advisors who want to keep as clients the children and grandchildren of existing wealthy clients after they pass along their estates to the next generation(s).

The takeaway is Gen Z seems very interested in saving and wants to know where their money is going. They do not want to be burdened with debt or worry about being unable to move ahead in life like many of their older sibling millennials are, Vahrenkamp says.

“It feels like [Gen Z is] more fiscally conservative, and that could be very helpful if you're having this conversation with the children or grandchildren [of financial advisor clients],” he notes. “It’s like, ‘Here’s all of this money that’s been left to you, let’s talk about a plan of how we can invest this money and save for marriage or buying a home.’ They seem much more open to having that planning conversation than maybe the millennials have been.”

Of those Gen Zers who have attended financial education programs, almost 60% have attended a program about financial planning. “I think you can have a robust and intelligent conversation with these kids more so than you might expect,” Vahrenkamp says.