In the months leading up to the election, US consumers have been a little more cautious with their spending. There are beginning to be signs of a cooling in the economy and the labour market, and according to the latest survey by investment bank Morgan Stanley, 23% of consumers expect their personal finances to deteriorate in the next six months. This is a better reading than the previous month (25% had that bad feeling), but is there any amount of income that will leave households feeling calm? Yes. The magic number is just over $186,000 a year.
This is the conclusion reached by personal finance specialists at Bankrate after a survey on financial freedom conducted to understand what households need not to live in opulence, but to feel comfortable and free from insecurity. This is an average amount – Latinos leave it at 173,000 – that is far from the $79,000 annually that workers, also on average, earn annually, according to Census figures. To feel rich, the figure rises to $520,000.
The same survey was conducted last year and to live comfortably then, 20% more was needed than in 2024, but to be among the luckiest, 8% less. In other words, security is a little closer this year but feeling rich is a little more expensive.
Leaving wealth aside, only 6% of respondents earn a sum that is close to what allows them to live comfortably. However, a good percentage remains optimistic: two out of five people believe that at some point they will reach 186,000 dollars a year. Meanwhile, 18% resign themselves to the fact that this is something they will never achieve.
In 2022, inflation reached levels not seen in forty years, leaving prices for both essentials and accessories very high, even though the upward pressure is easing. Salaries have increased, but necessities such as housing have skyrocketed in price, and buying a home is now more difficult than ever, not only because of the high cost of mortgages, but also because of the high price of property in a market with limited supply. GDP has emerged strongly from the Covid shock, but economic growth, continued stock market records and almost full employment do not lift the shadows cast by prices on the perception of the country’s progress.
The survey suggests that the feeling of not having enough income has resulted in three out of four Americans saying they are not completely financially secure, and 30% of them are convinced they never will be. This percentage was lower last year.
One of Bankrate’s analysts explains why, or at least one of them. Economist Mark Hamrick points out that in the United States, the mentality is often that you should spend and consume, “not that you should save or live below your means. And as a result, many Americans don’t have enough for emergency expenses or retirement.”
“There is no doubt that inflation and high prices, as well as changes in demand for associated costs such as paying for higher education, health care and retirement, make the situation even more challenging,” he added.
Most of those who are comfortable have completed higher education, with postgraduate degrees, and earn more than 100,000 a year. Those who see the future with more concern usually earn less than 50,000 or are between 60 and 78 years old (baby boomers) or children over 18 years of age.
What was the magic number over the decades?
Inflation, however small, alters the value of money over time. The $186,000 that would comfort so many families in the United States this year was worth $48,444 in 1980, when El Puma sang. You will miss me and Camilo Sesto triumphed with Forgive me.
When actor Mario López triumphed on television with the series Saved by the Bell In 1990, that number was equivalent to 76,516 and in 2010, when the effects of the financial crisis were still being felt, that magic number today was 129,211.
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