At some point, everyone has wondered how far they could stretch a paycheck. Each generation has different perceptions of wealth, and some generations are less optimistic than others.
Sixty percent of Americans believe that their own generation has it the hardest when it comes to financial success, according to a survey by the financial services company Empower. Titled "Secret to Success," the study asked 2,203 American adults about their thoughts on wealth and money. Millennials were the most pessimistic respondents: Sixty-nine percent felt that they faced the most significant challenges, and believed that financial success would be very difficult to achieve.
Millennials were born from 1981 through 1996, putting them between 29 and 44 years old in 2025. The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning indicates that they made up the greatest percentage of American workers in 2024, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
Key Takeaways
- Sixty-nine percent of millennials said in an Empower survey that financial success would be very hard for them to achieve.
- Overall, those surveyed felt that $270,000 a year was a financially successful salary, and $5.3 million was a successful net worth.
- Timely payment of bills ranked highest in their definition of financial success.
- Empower cites the Factor of Four when planning how to get there: hard work, talent, who you know, and good, old-fashioned luck.
Financial Success by Generation
On average, those surveyed in the "Secret to Success" survey saw $270,000 a year as a financially successful salary and $5.3 million as a successful net worth. Gen Z, born from 1997 to 2012, felt that they’d need $9.5 million in net worth to be considered successful. They tagged the necessary annual salary at around $588,000.
Boomers were perceived as having achieved overall financial success by 42% of respondents. Millennials followed at 24%, a distant second. Baby boomers also won in the areas of work ethic (46%) and retirement readiness (53%), followed by Gen X in both categories at 23% and 20% respectively.
Related Stories
Want To Save on Summer Travel? Here's Why You Should Consider a Group
Why Is Achieving Success so Hard?
The consensus is that millennials have faced more significant hurdles in their quest for financial success. They began their careers from 2007 through 2009, the time of the Great Recession. Jobs were limited, and unemployment rates were soaring. The CFP Board acknowledges that they’ve faced certain issues to a greater extent than other generations, including college loan debt, inflation, and significant home prices and rental rates.
“Millennials, especially those of us born in the eighties, got hit with a financial double whammy,” says Trevor Houston, CEO of ClearPath Wealth Strategies LLC. “First, the Great Recession, as we were launching our careers, then the pandemic during our prime earning years. That stole a lot of momentum and stability.”
Important
The Empower study found that millennials are nonetheless the most hopeful about their financial futures: 70% felt that they will achieve success somehow. In a 2024 survey, the CFP Board put the number at about three in five, and half of them felt that they were doing better than their parents at the same age.
What Defines Financial Success?
Of course, it all begs the question: What exactly is “financial success?” For many Americans, it's more than just net worth and earnings. Here are the priorities in the definition of success among those surveyed by Empower:
- Happiness associated with the ability to spend: 59%
- Physical wellbeing: 35%
- Free time: 35%
- Wealth: 27%
For many people, success is defined by reaching specific achievements. Here are some of the goalposts associated with financial success:
- Paying bills on time: 63%
- Affording travel and entertainment: 47%
- Homeownership: 52%
- Liking their job: 42%
- Ability to retire at a target age: 40%
Narrowing it down to millennials again, the CFP Board found that financial independence was the primary lifetime goal for 46% of them, and it was the #1 financial goal for 58%.
“Most of us aren’t chasing millions, we just want options,” Houston says. “The chance to step back if we need to, to help out when it matters, or to switch gears without everything falling apart. That kind of freedom means more than any paycheck ever could."
“Yes, homeownership and building wealth matter, but we want peace of mind," Houston adds. "We want to feel like we’re actually moving forward, not stuck in a loop.”
How to Get There?
The path to success isn’t a single lane, and most experts and survey respondents believe that it requires a combination of efforts. Empower calls it the Factor of Four: hard work, talent, who you know, and good, old-fashioned luck. Some respondents identified other actions as well.
Among those surveyed from every age group, it broke down like this overall:
- Never spending more than you earn: 52%
- Securing a well-paying job: 51%
- Saving and the benefits of compounding interest: 46%
- Creating a financial plan: 45%
- Financial education: 36%
- Saving for retirement: 30%
- Getting quality financial advice: 30%
- Investing in stocks: 27%
You can start by nailing down your spending habits. That doesn’t just mean looking at your checking account at the end of the month. Keep a daily track of unnecessary expenditures, such as grabbing lunch on the go rather than bringing a sandwich from home.
Then consider cutting back and sending the resulting dollars to an emergency savings account. Experts recommend stashing enough to pay your monthly bills for three to six months in a worst-case scenario, such as job loss or illness. You'll also want to tackle your debt and pay it down as much as possible. You can move on to larger and more lucrative saving and investment options from there.
“I recommend the reverse budget,” says Anthony Rasotto, CEO and financial advisor at ARC Wealth. “Once you’ve established your savings goals, you’ll know how much you need to save and where. The remaining portion of your income is what you can spend. As a general guideline, allocate 20% of income toward future goals while the remaining 80% is for current expenses.
"Reaching the 20% savings goal might not be feasible right away if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, but it’s a goal worth working toward," Rasotto adds. "Start small and build.”
The Bottom Line
Financial success comes with a lot of moving parts, and it doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. Priorities, goals, and unique challenges can vary significantly by generation. Many of the steps involved can span and serve all age groups, however. Always consult with a financial professional about any personal concerns you might have.