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Here’s how much Americans think they need to earn to stop worrying about money
Many Americans remain on financially precarious ground after years of high inflation and elevated borrowing costs, but they also have a dollar figure in mind for how much money they would need to make to stop worrying about their daily expenses.
Almost 6 in 10 people say they’d need to earn at least $100,000 a year to stop feeling anxious about their bills, according to a new report from Edelman Financial Engines. About half of that group pegged the amount even higher at $200,000 per year or more, the financial services firms found.
The study, Edelman’s third annual “Everyday Wealth in America” report, finds that Americans generally don’t feel wealthy, and many are anxious about their finances, ranging from wallowing in credit card debt to concerns about how the November presidential election could impact their finances.
But many people are also looking ahead to retirement, with most expecting to step back from work at age 67 or 68, although one-third don’t expect to ever be able to fully retire, the findings show.
“What we are noticing is that many Americans, even those who are affluent, aren’t feeling very confident about their financial situation,” said Isabel Barrow, director of financial planning at Edelman. “It might be coming from inflation, the election cycle or things more related to them,” such as debt or other headwinds.
The sharp jump in the cost of living during the pandemic likely reset Americans’ views about the income they would require to stop worrying about paying the bills, Barrow added. For instance, buying a home has become more costly in recent years due to rising real estate prices and mortgage rates, raising a higher barrier to homeownership than that faced by previous generations.
“When I was getting out of college, it was a dream to say you could make $100,000,” she said. Such an income signaled that “you knew you made it.”
But today, a six-figure income is seen more as the basis for a stable financial life, rather than a sign of wealth or achievement.
The wealth mindset
Only 12% of Americans said they considered themselves wealthy, according to the Edelman study, which surveyed about 3,000 people over the age of 30. And only 4 in 10 people who are objectively wealthy, with assets of more than $2 million, said they considered themselves rich.
That jibes with other recent research, including from Northwestern Mutual, a financial services firm, that found only one-third of millionaires consider themselves wealthy.
At the same time, anxiety about personal finances has increased from last year, Edelman found, with roughly a third of respondents saying they’re worried this year, versus 29% a year ago. That’s despite a soaring stock market and wages that have been edging ahead of inflation since May 2023.
Inflation remains a top concern, but this year’s survey found that it’s now tied with the current political environment as Americans’ top source of stress. About 1 in 5 respondents said they’ve made a financial decision in response to an election, such as changing investments to cutting spending.
But such politically motivated financial decisions can be a poor move when it comes to investing, Barrow cautioned. That’s because changing your strategy based on future events boils down to market timing, a notoriously poor financial strategy. Trying to buy and sell stocks to capture gains and avoid losses based on timing can lead to lost opportunities, Charles Schwab research has found.
“Try not to take politics and your emotions around it get conflated with your financial picture,” Barrow said. “Over the long term it doesn’t matter who is in power — the markets have trended upward over time.”
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
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To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
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Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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