Survey Finds Americans Should Have a Net Worth of $5.3 Million to Achieve Financial Success
Many individuals are currently earning over $100,000, yet find themselves living paycheck to paycheck.
Despite Americans’ high expectations of financial success, a survey by Empower, a financial planning company, reveals that many do not anticipate achieving their desired level of success.
Furthermore, the survey discovered that the threshold for net worth to reach success is $5.3 million.
Despite these high expectations, about half of respondents believe they will never meet their own standards of success. Currently, just over a third consider themselves to be financially successful. A significant portion of respondents expressed doubts about ever surpassing their parents’ financial position.
Challenges cited by respondents include the state of the economy and insufficient or irregular incomes hindering them from achieving their desired level of success.
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Other major obstacles include lack of financial management knowledge, unclear financial goals, overspending, debts, and postponement of financial planning.
The majority of adults experienced a worsened financial situation compared to the prior year due to fluctuations in the prices of goods and services, as stated in the report.
Inflation impacting Lifestyle
An October report from Bank of America revealed that about 20 percent of households with incomes exceeding $150,000 were living paycheck to paycheck. The report suggested that this could be linked to home purchases.
“Higher-income households might have purchased larger, more expensive homes, leading to larger mortgages. Larger homes typically come with higher insurance costs, property taxes, and utility bills,” the report explained.
Former President Donald Trump vowed to address inflation during his election campaign.
“Republicans intend to enhance energy production from all sources, including nuclear, to immediately reduce inflation and supply reliable, abundant, and affordable energy to American households, vehicles, and factories,” reads the GOP 2024 platform document.
Other proposals involve controlling federal spending and reducing burdensome regulations to cut costs. Republicans also aim to halt illegal border crossings and deport undocumented immigrants.
The GOP document states that open border policies have led to increased housing, healthcare, and education costs for Americans. Addressing the immigration crisis would potentially contribute to decreasing inflation.
McLaughlin mentioned that deporting undocumented immigrants could significantly impact the labor supply needed for new home construction, as a third of residential construction employment consists of foreign-born workers.
In the long term, this could have adverse effects on the broader economy, he added.
