Low and high earners have at least one thing in common: they’re more likely than those somewhere in the middle to say they’re living paycheck to paycheck.
A July survey of over Americans by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and behavioral economics firm Escalent showed about 61% of working respondents with less than $50,000 said they’re primarily living paycheck to paycheck, meaning they struggle to save or make progress toward long-term goals. The share dropped to 22% for those with $100,000 to $200,000 but rose to about 37% for those with more than $500,000.
“Financial security as reported does not rise in a straight line with income; it follows a u-shaped pattern,” a recent report said.
However, those at the top and bottom are facing different challenges.
Lower earners are struggling to keep up with the basics. A Pew Research Center survey found 42% of lower-income US adults struggled to afford daily transportation costs, and 39% of lower-income adults said the same about paying their rent or mortgage.
High gas prices don’t help; they’re rising at a faster clip than before the Iran war. Food-at-home prices, which include groceries, are rising more slowly, but they are still increasing. And the gap between what you need to earn to afford a house and the actual median household income has worsened, according to a tracker from the Atlanta Fed.
Meanwhile, high earners with more than $300,000 are facing “more complex financial lives, higher lifestyle expectations, larger fixed commitments, and a wider gap between the retirement they envision and what they believe they have secured,” the report said. Lifestyle creep could also be a factor, said Chris Ceder, senior retirement strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
U-shapes everywhere
The report also showed there were U-shapes by income level in how often financial concerns make it tough to focus at work, how many people are struggling with credit card payments, and how many said they’re delaying financial goals.
Those at the highest end of the income spectrum also had the highest share saying they’ve had to delay retirement despite being employed, at 45%.
When asked about what stands most in the way of saving up for retirement, 31% of Americans overall said housing costs, 31% said day-to-day living expenses, and 27% said debt payments.
“These expenses arrive every month, cannot be deferred, and they are paid first,” the report said. “Retirement is often paid last.”
Ceder said housing costs, family care, and healthcare are top concerns for the upper end of the income spectrum, while debt management is among the top three for the lower end.
Taking on more work
Ceder said that the highest-income workers were the most likely to take on multiple jobs. A likely reason could be saving up for unexpected costs.
“You would think again that mostly people who are at the lower-income spectrum may be working a second job or doing gig or freelance, but it’s actually flipped,” Ceder said.
A ZipRecruiter survey from earlier this year found workers earning over $150,000 were most likely to have supplemental work — with about 45% saying so compared to 31% of those making between $25,000 and $50,000.
Ceder said this hustling from the higher earners could suggest they’re aware of their long-term financial goals and want to get ahead of that.
“They actually are pretty confident that they’re going to be able to reach retirement, but some of that supplemental work is going towards retirement,” he said.
Are you living paycheck to paycheck? We’re looking to hear about how people are doing in today’s economy and any changes they’ve had to make. Reach out to this reporter to share at [email protected].
