What is the cost of longevity? As lifespans grow longer, the concept of saving becomes ever more crucial — especially for young people, who are being called upon to plan their own financial longevity.
The Milan Longevity Summit 2026, held at Allianz MiCo in Milan from 20 to 23 May, explored the new challenges of longevity through a One Health lens, reaffirming that this is by no means an exclusively medical issue. Longevity is a matter of urban planning, economic models, and a culture of saving.
"As lifespans grow longer, the concept of saving becomes ever more crucial," said Romualdo Guidi, Head of Product and Services at Fineco Bank, speaking at the Summit. "The most difficult years are those after retirement, and young people will face an even wider pension gap than previous generations." The issue is urgent: according to an analysis based on OECD/INFE data, only 16.6 per cent of Italians reach a minimally acceptable level of financial literacy. Italy ranks 36th out of 39 countries worldwide, with young people aged 18 to 29 among those struggling the most.
Paradoxically, young Italians appear to be developing a more mature relationship with money than the generations that came before them, driven precisely by the difficulties they face. "The new generations approach saving more effectively than their parents," explains Franca Cavalieri D'Oro, Head of Sustainability at Fineco. "They start investing earlier and in a more informed way, with a long-term outlook. More immediate access to information channels and technological tools allows them to quickly compare investment solutions and instruments, even if it remains necessary to promote financial education programmes."
The reason why young people in Italy, as elsewhere in Europe, are beginning to take greater care of their finances stems from concrete needs such as job insecurity, an uncertain pension future, high inflation and rising public debt. From July 2026, with the tacit consent mechanism introduced by the Budget Law, newly hired private-sector workers who do not make an explicit choice are automatically enrolled in a supplementary pension fund. But that may not be enough: the Assogestioni-Censis 2026 report finds that 74.4 per cent of Italians say they are informed about supplementary pension provision, yet only 15.4 per cent claim to have an in-depth knowledge of it. It is partly for this reason that the Milan Longevity Summit 2026 included in its programme workshops dedicated to capital management across the different stages of life, alongside an innovation challenge on the "invisible cost of longevity".
It is against this backdrop that the challenge launched by Fineco in the exhibition area of the Milan Longevity Summit 2026 takes shape: a hackathon aimed at innovation experts and startup accelerators with a precise goal — finding new solutions to help young people under 25 build a sustainable financial plan over time. The outcome, achieved in just 24 hours, was a prototype app designed to guide very young users in financial planning by starting from their everyday habits, incorporating physical and mental wellbeing goals alongside short- and long-term financial objectives.
"We are very pleased with the result," says Cavalieri D'Oro. "We believe that opening ourselves up to listening to the needs of younger generations can help us identify solutions that are close to them, helping them understand that living longer means needing to plan savings, investments and protection more carefully. Fineco is perfectly positioned to meet these needs and guide young people towards sustainable, long-term planning, thanks to the technological DNA that sets us apart and an advisory model built on efficiency, transparency and cost-consciousness." In this spirit, the Ministry of Labour has also made its contribution, activating in 2026 a portal dedicated to supplementary pension provision, developed in collaboration with the Consiglio Nazionale Giovani, to support citizens along the path of supplementary pension planning.