When Financial Awareness Meets Reality: Financial Literacy and Gen Z’s Entrepreneurship Interest

Financial literacy is a key competence for responsible decision-making and entrepreneurial readiness. This study looks at how Generation Z’s entrepreneurial participation is impacted by objective, subjective, and calibrated FL. The alignment of perceived and actual knowledge or calibration is highlighted as an understudied factor that influences entrepreneurial behaviour. A mixed-methods approach was applied, combining a survey of 403 Slovak students with structured interviews with secondary school and university teachers. Quantitative analysis used Chi-square tests, Cramer’s V, sign schemes, and MLR. Qualitative interviews provided contextual insights into educational gaps and perceived barriers to entrepreneurship. The findings confirm that a higher financial literacy is positively related to entrepreneurial interest. Objective literacy has a slightly greater predictive value than self-assessed literacy, while calibration emerged as the strongest predictor: realistically, financially literate individuals displayed the highest entrepreneurial engagement, whereas both over- and underestimation of financial knowledge reduced it. Interviews highlighted insufficient financial education, limited practical experience, and fear of risk as major obstacles. By combining three aspects of financial literacy with business goals and offering fresh data from Slovakia, this study makes a contribution to the literature. In similar situations, it makes suggestions for enhancing financial education to support Generation Z’s entrepreneurial potential.