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This Six-Figure Earners Survey Should Concern All Retirement Savers
There was a time when earning six figures sounded like you had really had it made.
Maybe not private-jet wealthy. Maybe not mansion-on-the-beach rich.
But comfortable. A six-figure household income suggested a nice home, reliable cars, family vacations, college funds for the kids – and enough left over to save for retirement.
At least, that was the picture I grew up with in my head. (I distinctly remember my parents talking about a cousin, specifically that he'd finally done his parents proud because he was making a six-figure income.)
Well, maybe that's the way things were back then. Today, a surprising number of six-figure earners no longer see themselves that way.
According to a new Pew Research Center analysis, half of upper-income Americans say the phrase “working class” describes them extremely or very well.
That struck me as remarkable.
Not because there’s anything wrong with being working class. Quite the opposite. The term "upper income" in this context means the top 1/3 highest earners.
What caught my attention was that Americans whom researchers objectively classify as upper income increasingly identify with a label historically associated with people who depend heavily on their next paycheck.
And that raises a question I think matters enormously for retirement:
If earning a high income no longer necessarily makes people feel financially secure while they’re still working, what happens when the paycheck stops?
What does “upper income” actually mean?
First, we should be precise about the numbers. Pew Research Center does not simply choose an arbitrary salary and declare everyone above it wealthy.
For its research, Pew adjusts family income for household size and local cost of living. Using 2024 dollars and a household of three as its benchmark, Pew classified families with adjusted income above approximately $155,600 as upper income.
Then the surveyasked how well the term “working class” described them.
The results tell us that occupation alone doesn't explain the trend.
While the majority (77%) of people working blue collar jobs considered themselves working class, so did nearly two thirds of white-collar workers!
So what’s going on?
Frankly, it would be tempting to say, “Obviously even affluent Americans are struggling to pay the bills.” In fact, Bloomberg reported on the nationwide "affordability squeeze" back in February. Even more concerning, Bloomberg also reported that one third of Americans earning $250,000 and more a year are living paycheck to paycheck.
But the research complicates that explanation.
Half of Americans whom Pew classified as having low financial stress – people who could pay their bills, had several months of emergency savings and described themselves as financially comfortable – still called themselves working class.
In other words, “working class” increasingly appears to describe something broader than poverty, financial distress or the kind of job a person performs.
For some Americans, I suspect it simply means: I still have to work for what I have.
Fair enough.
But that’s where the retirement implications become interesting.
High income doesn’t make rising prices disappear
Calling yourself "working class" clearly does not mean you’re struggling financially.
And we shouldn’t pretend someone earning $155,000 has the same financial challenges as a household earning $40,000.
They really don’t.
Federal Reserve data makes that very clear. Among households earning $100,000 or more, 59% said they often or always had money left over at the end of the month.
That’s much better than lower-income households.
Here's the thing... Not even a higher income makes you immune to rising prices.
The Federal Reserve’s latest Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households found that just over 9 in 10 adults considered price increases either a minor or major financial concern.
Even among families with incomes over $100,000, more than half (53%) said price changes over the previous year had made their financial situation worse.
And people aren’t merely complaining about prices. They’re doing something about it. Changing their behavior, according to the Fed:
- 62% switched to cheaper products
- 46% delayed a major purchase
- 41% reduced how much they were saving
- 17% worked more or took another job
That 41% figure jumps out at me. When prices rise faster than your budget can absorb, something has to give.
Maybe you eat out less. You put off replacing the car. Or work a few extra hours each week.
Or maybe the money that was supposed to go toward your future pays this month’s expenses instead.
And prices are still rising.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that consumer prices increased 3.4% over the 12 months ending in August 2026, rising 0.4% in August alone.
Now, 3.4% inflation is nothing like the worst inflation surge we saw earlier this decade.
But here’s something that’s easy to forget:
Lower inflation doesn't mean prices go back down. It only means they’re still rising, but more slowly.
That distinction matters a great deal when you’re planning for the future...
What happens when the paycheck stops?
While you’re working, you have at least a few ways to fight rising costs.
You can ask for a raise, or strive for a promotion.
Or take another job.
Many people have the option to work overtime for extra pay.
Entrepreneurs can grow their businesses.
Anyone can launch a "side hustle" or take on a part-time job.
It's extreme, but some people even change careers. I know a former gradeschool math teacher who's now an AI researcher making 5x her old pay. I'm friends with an environmental biologist who now works in a machine shop (better pay, better hours and fewer mosquitos he says).
Now maybe none of these are ideal, but they’re options. And they help pay the bills.
Retirement changes that equation.
Many retirees still have some income, of course. But once your working years end, most will have fewer ways to really increase that income.
Meanwhile, groceries don’t know you’re retired.
Neither does your electric company.
Or your car insurance company, or the mechanic or the dentist.
That’s why I think retirement planning becomes less about reaching some magical dollar amount and more about a much harder question:
What will those dollars actually buy when you need them?
A high income can solve a lot of problems. It can’t give you back time.
The closer retirement gets, the more valuable resilience becomes
When you’re 30 years old, a financial setback is painful. But you probably have decades to recover.
At 55 or 60, the math changes. You have fewer earning years remaining. And every dollar diverted from retirement savings to today’s higher expenses has less time to do its job.
That’s why I think there’s a natural shift that happens as retirement approaches.
Earlier in life, the focus tends to be accumulation:
How much can I earn? How much can I save? How much can I build?
Closer to retirement, another question becomes just as important:
How much of my savings can I preserve?
That’s really what I hear underneath this strange “working class” statistic. These aren’t necessarily people living paycheck to paycheck. Many are doing quite well. But financial security itself doesn’t feel as permanent as it once did.
A household can earn an objectively high income and still recognize that financial security becomes harder to rebuild as retirement approaches.
Retirement planning isn’t only about having more dollars
None of us knows exactly what inflation will look like five, ten or twenty years from now.
That’s precisely the problem.
Retirement planning involves making decisions today about expenses you won’t face for years or even decades.
Personally, I think that uncertainty makes diversification worth understanding.
Some retirement savers choose to diversify a portion of their savings with physical precious metals so they aren’t relying entirely on a single type of asset or savings strategy.
Precious metals aren’t a guarantee. Their prices fluctuate, and diversification cannot eliminate financial risk.
But for people thinking less about chasing maximum growth and more about preserving what they’ve spent decades accumulating, physical gold and other precious metals can be worth learning about.
Because the real retirement challenge isn’t simply accumulating a pile of dollars.
It’s making sure the savings you’ve worked for can continue doing their job long after you stop working.
If you’re interested in learning how physical precious metals can fit into a tax-advantaged retirement account, you can request our free Precious Metals Information Kit.
Or, if you’d rather speak with someone directly, call Birch Gold Group at (800) 355-2116.
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About Peter Reagan
Peter Reagan has covered precious metals and the economy for Birch Gold Group for over 15 years. His articles have been featured in several leading publications, including Newsmax and Zerohedge. At Birch Gold Group, Peter leverages his deep market insights to help educate website visitors and customers on why they should consider diversifying their savings into gold and other precious metals, and how that process works. Due to this commitment to education, his content has become a trusted source of information throughout the industry.
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