🌅 Financing the American Dream

SOURCE

Investopedia

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new report by Investopedia found it now costs just over $5 million to achieve the “American dream”, up from $4.4 million last year. To reach the number, Investopedia calculated the lifetime cost of eight pillars that help define a standard American middle-class dual-income household, including having enough money to afford a home, send children to college, maintain quality healthcare, and take yearly vacations, among other things.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The report found retirement is the most expensive aspect of the American dream, costing the 86% of adults who reported wanting to retire one day around $1.6 million to do so comfortably. Quality healthcare, which 86% of respondents said is key, will cost Americans about $414,000 over their entire adult life (from age 22 to 85). Health care costs have risen 5% to 6% annually over the past two decades, outpacing most other bills.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Other research shows the average American with a Bachelor’s degree will earn around $2.8 million during their career, suggesting the American dream requires at least a college-educated two-income household. Getting married also comes with significant financial benefits that help households afford more, however, the marriage rate in the U.S. has dropped by 60% over the past 50 years as Americans are increasingly staying single.