Gen Z Says You Need This Much Money To Feel “Successful” In Texas!

Feeling "successful" isn’t cheap these days—or at least that’s what Americans think.

Gone are the days where making a $50K salary was more than enough to get you by. *Cries in pennies*

According to a new financial planning poll, the average person believes they’d need to rake in $270,000 a year to feel truly successful. Yup, you read that right, and that’s not household income—it’s per person!! *Gasps in Spanish* To put that in perspective, that number is four times the current U.S. median salary.

So why the sky-high expectations? Look no further than Gen Z, who have completely changed the game with their definition of “success.”  

For context, Boomers said they’d need just under $100,000 annually to feel financially successful (dang, that’s still a big number in my mind.) Gen X and Millennials raised the bar to about $200,000. But Gen Z? Their “ideal” success salary is a jaw-dropping $588,000 a year.

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While that number might seem bananas, it raises a bigger question about how younger generations view success in today’s economy. Skyrocketing housing costs? Check. Social media pressure? Double-check. 

It’s safe to say that inflation could also be a reason that Gen Z thinks we need to make close to six figures in order to be “successful” but whatever the reason is…. I have a lot of work to do to reach that number!