More than 1 in 3 Americans making over $300,000 say they are living paycheck to paycheck

The affordability crisis puts a huge strain on Americans making the least, but apparently everyone is feeling it. More than a third of people earning under $100,000 or over $300,000 say they live paycheck to paycheck, according to a new report on retirement trends from Goldman Sachs. For people making less than $100,000, the share of people struggling to save is 42%, while 36% of their well-compensated counterparts above the $300,000 threshold reported a similar lack of financial wiggle room. Over two-thirds of Americans earning under $100,000 or over $300,000 also said they had been forced to delay their financial goals. Meanwhile, 23% of Americans with incomes from $100,000 to $300,000 said they were living paycheck to paycheck, and 54% of earners in that middle swath said they had delayed their own personal finance milestones. Across income levels, almost 70% of people in the U.S. say they have put off a major financial goal, the new report reveals. The findings were drawn from surveys of 5,106 people conducted in July 2026, a data set that included a mix of retired people and Americans still in the workforce. “For generations, the retirement security formula was straightforwar…