Gen X is the least financially secure generation — and most Americans say they need six figures to live comfortably

Independent

6 hours ago

More than a quarter of Americans say they would need to be making at least $150,000 to feel financially secure, and more than three-quarters of Americans say they currently don't feel financially secure — especially those who belong to Generation X.
More than three-quarters of U.S. adults say they aren't completely financially secure, which is up from 72 percent in 2023 and 75 percent in 2024, according to Bankrate's Financial Freedom Survey.
While just over a quarter of Americans told Bankrate they would feel secure if they could make $150,000, a large percentage of respondents — 45 percent — said they need to make at least six figures before they could begin to feel secure.
Feeling financially secure, as defined by Bankrate's survey, is the ability to 'cover your bills and everyday essentials but also have money left over for eating out and vacations.'
That growing sense of financial instability is fueled by several factors.
'One major issue is that wages have been stagnant for a large majority of the population over that time, and prices continue to rise,' Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida, told Bankrate.
'Add that to the backdrop of political instability everyone is feeling, and I think that is a perfect formula for people not feeling financially secure,' she said,
The cost of goods are not the only major expense on the rise. There's also child care, auto loans, home insurance, outstanding student loan balances, and of course, rent.
While all U.S. adults are subject to these forces, Generation X may be one of the hardest hit. Gen Xers — people who are currently between the ages of 45 and 60 — have now been working for decades. But the oldest of that cohort is still at least seven years away from the retirement age.
Bankrate's survey found that 84 percent of Gen Xers felt they weren't being paid enough to feel financially secure. The survey found that 80 percent of Generation Z respondents felt the same way, as did 79 percent of Millennials and 69 percent of Baby Boomers.
According to a 2024 Experian survey, Gen X has experienced the most 'financial trauma' — defined by Trauma of Money author Chanel Chapman as emotional distress directly linked to monetary concerns and its impact on their relationships, families, and perspectives on wealth.
In that survey, 74 percent of Gen X respondents said they were experiencing financial trauma, followed by 71 percent of Millennials, 64 percent of Gen Z, and 63 percent of Baby Boomers.
Gen Xers are in the unenviable position of nearing the end of their careers while also having to care for children and aging loved ones and navigating the challenging modern financial landscape.
Gen X was also in the prime earning years during the Great Recession, and were the first generation born after the broad elimination of pensions in the United States.
In the Bankrate survey, 35 percent of Gen Xers said they would need to rake in at least$150,000 annually to feel financially comfortable, while 24 percent of Baby Boomers, 26 percent of Millennials, and 20 percent of Gen Zers said the same.
While Gen X may be struggling the most, all the surveys show that more than half of all U.S. adults are feeling the pressure to make ends meet.
According to Bankrate, rapid inflation over the last three years has undermined households' purchasing power, which makes it harder for Americans to afford their lifestyles on their current salaries.
A salary of $100,000 in January 2020 has the same buying power as $124,353, according to Bankrate. That means that if the worker making $100,000 hasn't received a raise between 2020 and 2025, they've effectively lost $24,000 of their salary.
But for the nearly 900,000 Americans who make minimum wage, reaching that six-figure benchmark for financial security may seem impossible, especially when pushes to raise the federal minimum wage fail to materialize.
Today, 34 states and territories have minimum wages around the federal hourly minimum of $7.25 per hour. That rate has not increased since 2009. Five states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee — use the federal minimum wage, and three states have a lower minimum wage than the federal minimum.
While the push for a $15 minimum wage was championed primarily by progressive voices like Sen. Bernie Sanders, the idea has gained broader momentum in Congress, even among some Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley.
Sanders attempted to add a provision raising the federal minimum wage to $15 in 2021 as part of Joe Biden's COVID-19 stimulus bill, but the effort was killed in the Senate.
That same year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition's annual ' Out of Reach ' report found that minimum wage workers in 93 percent of U.S. counties would not be able to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment.
But even moderate raises aren't going to go far enough to reduce the financial pressures facing modern American adults.
The current typical national salary for a full-time, year-round worker was $81,515 in 2023, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Typically, the more direct path toward making more money is switching jobs, but even that avenue has become more difficult for many workers. Many companies have slowed or stopped hiring, making it that much harder for Americans to increase their salaries.
The financial realities of the modern world are a far cry from the idyllic American Dream — that an American who works a full-time job can afford a home, transportation, raise their children, and have enough left over to enjoy their lives — and that reality doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon.
'Though many Americans hold onto the idea of returning to a 1950s-era 'Golden' America age, the days when a single, non-college educated breadwinner could sustain an entire family seem like they may be confined forever to the past,' Bankrate economy reporter Sarah Foster said.