A household earning $500,000 (£375,000) a year might appear comfortably insulated from financial pressure. Yet 36.6% of respondents in households earning more than $500,000 (£375,000) said they primarily lived paycheck to paycheck, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management's 2026 Retirement Survey and Insights Report. That was the second-highest rate among the survey's income groups, behind households earning less than $50,000 (£37,500), at 60.8%.
The pattern challenges the assumption that financial security rises steadily with income. The share reporting paycheck-to-paycheck pressure fell to 22.2% among households earning $100,000 to $200,000 (£75,000 to £150,000), before rising to 34.2% in the $300,000-to-$500,000 (£225,000-to-£375,000) bracket and 36.6% above $500,000 (£375,000).
