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Why This Generation Says Financial Success Feels Harder to Reach

Richard CarrRichard Carr 3 min read
A new Empower survey finds 69% of millennials think financial success is very hard to reach.

Financial success means something different depending on who you ask, but a new survey suggests millennials feel further from it than any other generation. According to a 2025 study by Empower called "Secret to Success," 69% of millennials said achieving financial success would be very difficult, the gloomiest outlook of any age group polled.

A person calculates savings goals by hand at a home desk late at night.

A Generation Squeezed From Both Sides

The Empower survey polled 2,203 American adults about how they define and pursue financial success. Sixty percent of all respondents said their own generation faces the toughest road to getting there, but millennials, born between 1981 and 1996 and now roughly 29 to 44 years old, stood out as the most discouraged. That timing matters. Data from the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning shows millennials made up the largest share of the American workforce in 2024, a position they are expected to hold for years to come.

Trevor Houston, CEO of ClearPath Wealth Strategies LLC, points to timing as the root of the problem. "Millennials, especially those of us born in the eighties, got hit with a financial double whammy," he says. "First, the Great Recession, as we were launching our careers, then the pandemic during our prime earning years. That stole a lot of momentum and stability." The CFP Board's research backs that up, citing college loan debt, inflation, and steep housing and rental costs as burdens millennials have carried more heavily than other generations.

What a Successful Salary Actually Looks Like

Numbers help put the anxiety in context. Across all respondents, the average financially successful salary was pegged at $270,000 a year, with a net worth of $5.3 million considered a marker of success. Gen Z, born from 1997 to 2012, set the bar even higher: they said it would take $588,000 a year and a net worth of $9.5 million to feel successful.

GenerationPerceived Successful SalaryPerceived Successful Net WorthSeen as Having Achieved Success
Baby BoomersNot separately reportedNot separately reported42%
MillennialsNot separately reportedNot separately reported24%
Gen Z$588,000/year$9.5 millionNot separately reported
All respondents (average)$270,000/year$5.3 millionNot applicable

Baby boomers were widely seen as the generation that actually reached financial success, with 42% of respondents crediting them, compared to just 24% for millennials. Boomers also topped the rankings for work ethic (46%) and retirement readiness (53%), with Gen X trailing behind at 23% and 20% in those same categories.

Success Isn't Just a Number

Ask people to define financial success and the answers rarely stop at a bank balance. Fifty nine percent of Empower's respondents tied success to the happiness that comes from being able to spend freely, while 35% pointed to physical wellbeing and another 35% to having free time. Only 27% defined it strictly in terms of wealth.

Concrete milestones told a similar story. Paying bills on time ranked as the top marker of success at 63%, ahead of homeownership (52%), affording travel and entertainment (47%), liking one's job (42%), and being able to retire at a chosen age (40%). Among millennials specifically, the CFP Board found that financial independence was the top lifetime goal for 46% of them and the number one financial priority for 58%.

[[image: couple reviewing bills kitchen]]</p><p>Houston frames the shift in priorities as less about chasing riches and more about breathing room. "Most of us aren't chasing millionswe just want options" he says. "The chance to step back if we need toto help out when it mattersor to switch gears without everything falling apart. That kind of freedom means more than any paycheck ever could." He adds that while homeownership and wealth still matterwhat millennials really want is "peace of mind" and a sense of forward motion rather than feeling stuck.</p><h2>Building Toward Financial Success</h2><p>Empower describes the path to getting there through what it calls the Factor of Four: hard worktalentconnectionsand luck. Survey respondents named their own list of practical habitsand the results lined up in a fairly clear order of priority.</p><table><thead><tr><th>Habit or Action</th><th>Share Who Cited It</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Never spending more than you earn</td><td>52%</td></tr><tr><td>Securing a well paying job</td><td>51%</td></tr><tr><td>Saving and benefiting from compounding interest</td><td>46%</td></tr><tr><td>Creating a financial plan</td><td>45%</td></tr><tr><td>Financial education</td><td>36%</td></tr><tr><td>Saving for retirement</td><td>30%</td></tr><tr><td>Getting quality financial advice</td><td>30%</td></tr><tr><td>Investing in stocks</td><td>27%</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The practical starting pointaccording to financial professionalsis tracking spending closely rather than glancing at a bank balance once a month. Smallrepeated purchasesa coffee herelunch out thereadd up faster than most people realize. From therethe usual advice applies: build an emergency fund covering three to six months of expenses in case of job loss or illnessthen work down debt before shifting focus to saving and investing.</p><p>Anthony RasottoCEO and financial advisor at ARC Wealthsuggests flipping the traditional budget on its head. "I recommend the reverse budget" he says. "Once you've established your savings goalsyou'll know how much you need to save and where. The remaining portion of your income is what you can spend." His general rule of thumb: 20% of income toward future goals80% toward current expenses. "Reaching the 20% savings goal might not be feasible right away if you're living paycheck to paycheckbut it's a goal worth working toward" he adds. "Start small and build."</p><h2>Will Millennials Close the Gap?</h2><p>Despite the pessimism about how hard success is to reach70% of millennials in the Empower survey said they still believe they'll get there eventually. That optimism echoes a separate 2024 CFP Board surveywhich found roughly three in five millennials confident about their financial futureswith half saying they're already doing better than their parents did at the same age. Whether that confidence turns into actual progress will likely depend on how the next few years of wageshousing costsand interest rates shake out.</p>

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