This CEO isn’t sure about financial nihilism, but he’s horrified by sports gambling online. So this football season, he’ll pay you not to do it

Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns, isn't convinced that young Americans have embraced the idea of financial nihilism, which suggests that patient, boring investing is no longer a viable path to wealth. While he acknowledges that concerns about AI, debt, and an uncertain world may have contributed to this mindset, Kerner has no concrete statistics to back up the claim.

However, he is firmly against online sports betting and believes that the start of the NFL season presents a prime opportunity to address this issue. This season, Acorns is launching a campaign called "Investinall," which offers to match users' sports betting losses up to $50 and deposit the funds directly into a new Acorns investment account.

Kerner's campaign is designed to capitalize on the desperation many feel when they lose money on bets and hopes to encourage them to invest instead. He argues that betting is no different from trading or prediction markets, all of which he considers to be "engineered to exploit impulse" and target a generation that expects instant results.

While Kerner is hesitant to make definitive claims about financial nihilism, he is confident in the underlying behavior of gamblers. Acorns has data showing that 27% of Americans and 52% of men aged 18 to 49 have an active online sportsbook account, with 96% of surveyed bettors losing money overall. One in four bettors even admits to missing bill payments due to gambling.

Kerner likens the company's approach to emotional management, stating that it's in the business of handling emotions rather than moral judgments. The simple mechanics of Investinall involve users self-reporting their losses, opening an Acorns investment account, and committing to a recurring $5 investment. In return, Acorns deposits between $1 and $50 into the account, all without requiring proof of the loss.

Kerner is using the honor system to manage this program, treating the payout as a redirected marketing budget rather than a giveaway.