Investment is a way to boost economic growth and fight poverty in society. Specifically, investment in a company’s stock is an efficient way to encourage economic equality. Financial literacy is crucial for making informed financial decisions, but various investment choices need different financial literacy levels. This study aims to determine the effect of financial literacy on millennials’ investment choice preferences. This study used advanced financial literacy measurement in three dimensions: financial knowledge, financial attitude, and financial behavior. Meanwhile, investment choices are bank’s time deposits, gold, property, mutual funds, and corporate stocks. We surveyed millennial generation, and 247 valid respondents participated in this study. We used multiple regression methods to evaluate the data. We found that financial literacy positively affects millennials’ preference to invest in a company’s stock and mutual funds. However, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that financial literacy affects millennials’ investment preferences in a bank’s time deposits, gold, and real estate. Moreover, this study showed that the risk attitude only affects investment preferences on a company’s stock and positively moderates (strengthens) the financial attitude toward preferences on mutual funds. © 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.