The Salary Each Generation Believes They Need To Make To Feel Successful, According To New Study
Is it any surprise that Gen Z felt they needed the most money?
Mix and Match Studio | Shutterstock Different generations have different ideas and beliefs about money. This makes sense, as each generation is raised differently and lives through different events.
It turns out that each generation has majorly varying thoughts on what their ideal salary would be. A new study examined what these salaries would look like, for everyone from Gen Z to baby boomers.
Gen Z believes they need the highest salary to be successful out of four generations.
Empower conducted a study entitled “Secret to Success,” in which they polled 2,203 American adults. The study, they said, was conducted in a manner that made it “representative” of all adult Americans.
Empower found that “the average salary considered successful is $270,000 per year and $5.3 million in overall net worth.”
Interestingly, Gen Z felt they needed even more than that.
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When asked about the “annual salary” needed to be “financially successful,” Gen Z gave an average answer of $587,797. This was significantly more than any other generation surveyed.
Millennials felt that they needed to make about $180,865 annually to be successful, while Gen X wanted $212,321.
Baby boomers came in with the lowest salary believed to be necessary for financial success at $99,874.
This is, unsurprisingly, different from the reality of the average salaries for these generations.
While these may be the idealistic salaries each generation wishes they could make, they are, of course, higher than what is actually made.
According to data from Statista, Gen Z actually brings in about $57,039 a year. Meanwhile, millennials make $97,866.
Gen X boasted the highest salary at $113,886. Boomers made about $74,195 a year.
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This means that Gen Z’s wished-for salary for financial success is 10 times higher than what they’re actually making on average.
Millennials and Gen X’s numbers were fairly far off as well, while boomers had the smallest difference between how much they wanted to make and how much they actually made.
It’s not surprising that each generation feels they need more than they actually make. Each deals with its own set of monetary struggles, making it feel like more money is needed than what is actually had.
Statistics gathered by Investopedia prove that each generation has faced periods of high inflation. With major events like recessions, wars, and pandemics marking the years for each generation, it makes sense that they all felt they needed a little extra.
The state of today’s economy is likely also to blame for these large numbers.
Many boomers have already retired or are nearing that age. Yet, when they were younger, they had enough money to get by. But, when asked what salary they would need to be financially successful, they gave an answer higher than what they actually made.
Furthermore, Gen Z, the youngest generation that was a part of the survey, felt they needed the most money. Many would chalk this up to younger people being greedy or entitled. However, this could just as easily be due to today’s economy.
While inflation is finally going down after hitting record highs during the recent pandemic, and the stock market is doing relatively well, people don’t feel confident in the economy.
Kyla Scanlon, an economics expert, told PBS News Hour that she refers to this phenomenon as a “vibecession.”
“The vibecession is this idea of a disconnect between consumer sentiment and economic data and why people feel bad about the economy, despite the economic metrics telling them that the economy is doing okay,” she said.
Because Gen Zers have grown up in this “vibecession” economy, where everything feels off, and have had to watch their parents struggle when the economy truly was in a bad place, they feel they need a bigger cushion to be successful.
In other words, they are being realistic considering what they know. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.