Where Americans and Canadians Turn for Financial Guidance

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three-quarters of Americans and nearly seven in 10 Canadians have sought financial guidance from at least one source in the past year, according to a new Gallup study conducted in partnership with Edward Jones.

Among U.S. adults who have sought guidance, 73% have used their own internet research, more than any other source. Family members are cited next, at 35%, followed by professional financial advisors (32%), news, media or social media (26%), and friends (23%). Eighteen percent have sought financial guidance from artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT, Claude and similar AI assistants.

Canadians rely on many of the same sources but at different rates. Internet research also leads in Canada, at 59%, while Canadians are more likely than Americans to turn to professional financial advisors (43%) and family members (40%).

Guidance-Seeking Looks Different by Generation

Younger generations in both the U.S. and Canada are more likely than older generations to have sought financial guidance in the past year. In the U.S., guidance-seeking ranges from 81% among Gen Z adults to 70% among baby boomers. In Canada, the gap is wider, ranging from 83% among Gen Z adults to 58% among baby boomers.

Guidance patterns differ not just by whether adults seek input but also by which sources they use. As AI technology emerges as a potential source of financial guidance, younger adults are more likely to use it. In the U.S., about one in four Gen Z adults and millennials have used AI for financial guidance, compared with 7% of baby boomers. Canada shows the same age pattern, with AI use around 30% among Gen Z adults and millennials and much lower among older adults.

Older generations are more likely to seek guidance from professional financial advisors. In the U.S., advisor use rises from 14% among Gen Z guidance-seekers to 55% among baby boomers. In Canada, advisor use also rises across generations, reaching 65% among baby boomers.

Confidence in Financial Expertise Varies Widely by Source

The study also asked adults how much confidence they have in each source’s expertise when it comes to managing money and found that the sources people use are not always the ones they trust the most.

In both the U.S. and Canada, financial advisors receive the highest confidence ratings. Among all adults, 79% of Americans and 76% of Canadians have at least some confidence in the expertise of financial advisors, including roughly one-quarter in each country who have a great deal of confidence.

Confidence is not limited to advisors. In both countries, majorities of adults say they have at least some confidence in the expertise of finance professors, family members, and friends or colleagues.

AI and social media influencers fall lower on the confidence scale. No more than three in 10 adults in either country have at least some confidence in AI as a source of financial guidance, and very few have a great deal of confidence: 3% in the U.S. and 4% in Canada. Confidence in social media influencers is lower still.

Confidence in AI is highest among the generations using it most. In the U.S., 36% of millennials and 32% of Gen Z adults say they have at least some confidence in AI tools, versus 27% of Gen Xers and 15% of baby boomers. Even among younger adults, far less than half have confidence in AI.

Where People Turn for Guidance Varies by Financial Fulfillment

Financial fulfillment is not simply about income, wealth or having all the answers. It reflects whether a person's finances support the life they want to live, including whether people feel secure, in control, and able to make financial decisions that align with their goals and values. In the research, Gallup and Edward Jones categorize adults as financially fulfilled, financially conflicted or financially stressed based on how closely their financial lives align with this standard.

People across all levels of financial fulfillment search for information, ask questions and look for guidance. But the paths they take often look different.

In the U.S., 77% of financially fulfilled adults, 75% of financially conflicted adults and 73% of financially stressed adults have sought guidance from at least one source in the past year. In Canada, the shares are 72%, 68% and 67%, respectively.

For adults experiencing financial stress, guidance tends to come from the people closest to them. In the U.S., 43% of financially stressed guidance-seekers have sought advice from family and 28% from friends, compared with 19% and 13%, respectively, of financially fulfilled guidance-seekers. AI use also tilts somewhat toward the stressed, at 21%, compared with 15% among the financially fulfilled.

The pattern is similar in Canada, where financially stressed adults are especially likely to turn to family and friends. More than half of financially stressed guidance-seekers in Canada have turned to family, and nearly one-third have turned to friends. Among the financially fulfilled, those figures fall to 12% and 4%, respectively. AI use is also higher among the financially stressed than among the fulfilled in Canada.

At the same time, financially fulfilled adults are more likely to draw on professional guidance. In the U.S., 60% of financially fulfilled guidance-seekers have worked with a professional financial advisor, compared with 33% of financially conflicted adults and 14% of financially stressed adults. The pattern is even more pronounced in Canada, where advisor use rises from 26% among financially stressed adults to 74% among those who are financially fulfilled.

This does not mean that financial fulfillment is simply a product of working with a financial advisor, nor that having more wealth automatically leads to fulfillment. The study shows that income and net worth do not fully explain why some people feel financially fulfilled while others do not.

Instead, the findings suggest that financially fulfilled people assemble a different mix of guidance as they make decisions over time. They often combine their own research, personal networks and, more frequently, professional expertise. Fulfillment is ultimately about outcomes people experience in their lives: feeling confident about their financial choices, prepared for uncertainty and able to pursue what matters most to them.

Implications

Americans and Canadians have a broad set of options when they seek financial guidance, and those choices vary by generation, country and financial circumstances.

Where people turn for financial guidance does not always correspond with the sources they trust the most. Internet research is by far the most common source of guidance — while professional financial advisors, the source adults in both countries have the most confidence in, are consulted by less than half of guidance-seekers. Family and friends fall in the middle, widely used and broadly trusted. The clearest divide is AI: About one in five guidance-seekers have used it, but no more than three in 10 adults have even some confidence in its expertise, including among the younger generations using it most.

Financial fulfillment offers one way to understand why these choices matter. Adults at every level of fulfillment seek guidance at similar rates, but financially fulfilled adults tend to draw on a different mix of sources, one that more often includes trusted, professional expertise alongside their own research and personal networks. Seeking more advice is not what sets them apart; it is finding the guidance that helps them feel secure, in control, and confident in their financial present and future.

Learn more about how the Edward Jones Financial Fulfillment study works.

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