Having $1 million in net worth used to be the ultimate goal, but today, some experts are worried about it may not be enough. However, when asked in a survey of the younger generation how much net worth would make them feel successful, Baby Boomers (ages 60 to 78) stopped at that coveted $1 million mark.
Other generations? Not even close.
According to one new survey from Empowera financial services company, Gen X (ages 44 to 59) said they would need $5.3 million to feel successful, and millennials (ages 28 to 43) reported a slightly higher figure of 5.6 million dollars. Gen Z (ages 18 to 27) went wild and answered that they would need $9.5 million, on average.
The survey, titled “The Secret of Success,” was drawn from online survey responses of 2,203 Americans age 18 and older, taken over two consecutive days in September 2024 and presented by Morning Consult. The numbers were “weighted to be nationally representative of US adults,” according to Empower.
The average salary Americans considered a measure of “success” was $270,000 a year, according to the report.
But just like the net worth question, Gen Z doubled the answer of every other generation and said a salary of $587,797 would make them “successful.” Millennials reported needing a salary of $180,865, Gen X reported $212,321 and Baby Boomers said $99,874.
Despite high expectations, the report also found that 58% of Americans surveyed still believed they would achieve financial success in their lifetime, with younger generations the most optimistic (Gen Z, 71%; Millennials, 70%; Gen X , 53 and Baby Boomers, 45%).
Rebecca Rickert, chief communications officer at Empower, told CNBC that younger generations are “more optimistic about achieving financial success in their lifetime, although they estimate that it will take more money to get there.”
Read Empower's full research report, “The secret of success.“