36.6% of $500K-plus households live paycheck to paycheck, Goldman finds

Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Retirement Survey and Insights Report 2026 delivers a jarring number: 36.6% of Americans with household incomes above $500,000 say they primarily live paycheck to paycheck. That puts the top income band in worse shape than every group except households earning under $50,000, where 60.8% say the same. The survey, based on responses from 5,106 people including 3,612 workers and 1,494 retirees ages 45 to 75, asked respondents to classify themselves as primarily living paycheck to paycheck and struggling, making moderate progress, or making significant progress on short- and long-term goals.

The strain shows up in credit card habits. Some 46% of households earning more than $500,000 say they typically pay only the minimum on their credit card balances each month, or less, nearly identical to the 47% share among households earning under $50,000, and well above the 30% among households earning $200,000 to $300,000. Top earners are also putting off their plans: 80% of respondents earning more than $500,000 say they have delayed a major financial goal despite being employed, the highest share of any income group, and 45% say they have delayed retirement savings specifically, also the highest.

Goldman's explanation for the squeeze is structural. Housing, healthcare, education, caregiving, and everyday costs have outpaced wage growth for decades, leaving households with less room to save. "The challenge is no longer participation," Goldman wrote. "It is competing needs." Consumer prices have climbed roughly 22% over the past five years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index, and gasoline prices were up 27.4% year over year in August. Median household income hit a record $87,460 in 2025, according to the Census Bureau, but the macro backdrop still shows pressure: unemployment was 4.2% in September and consumer spending rose by $190.8 billion in August, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Goldman notes that beneath strong employment and resilient spending lie "growing financial pressures that threaten long-term retirement readiness."

The pattern is U-shaped. The paycheck-to-paycheck share falls from 60.8% in the lowest band to 22.2% among households earning $100,000 to $200,000, then climbs back to 34.2% for the $300,000 to $500,000 band and 36.6% for the top band. Households earning $200,000 to $300,000 are the sweet spot: 42.2% said they were making meaningful headway on both short- and long-term financial goals. That suggests the problem is not raw income alone; it is what happens when income rises and expenses and expectations rise with it.

Goldman says the strain at the top looks different from the struggle at the bottom. Lower-income households are trying to cover essentials. Higher earners point to more complex financial lives, higher lifestyle expectations, larger fixed commitments, and a gap between the retirement they envision and what they have actually secured. In practice, that can mean a bigger mortgage, pricier cars, private school tuition, and frequent travel, the kind of lifestyle inflation that can quietly absorb a raise. It is a familiar pattern for so-called HENRYs, or "high earners, not rich yet."

Family obligations play a role at every income level. "Higher-income individuals may be the financial anchors for their extended families," a Goldman Sachs spokesperson told Fortune. The report also notes that two households can report the same strain for very different reasons: for one, it may mean struggling to cover the bills; for the other, it may mean expenses and expectations that have grown faster than income. The results are self-reported, and most top earners still feel secure in their jobs: 87% of respondents earning more than $500,000 say their work provides a stable path toward long-term financial security.

The bigger strategic takeaway is that retirement saving momentum has stalled. The share of working respondents who increased their retirement savings fell from 55% in 2025 to 39% this year, a drop of more than 16 percentage points, which Goldman called the largest single-year decline since 2020. Younger workers are feeling it too, with many taking on extra work to make ends meet, as Fortune previously reported. For CFOs, wealth managers, and HR leaders, the data challenges a common assumption: more income does not automatically buy more financial security. The top of the income distribution may look affluent on paper, but the balance sheets underneath are more fragile than they appear.