Amid report inflation, 36% of workers incomes $100,000 or extra say they’re residing paycheck to paycheck

More than a 3rd of high-earning American staff really feel strapped for money — a share that has risen dramatically lately.

Thirty-six p.c of U.S. workers with salaries of $100,000 or extra live paycheck to paycheck — twice as many who stated they had been in 2019, in keeping with a survey carried out by Willis Towers Watson, a consulting agency.

That’s greater than the 34% of staff who earn $50,000 to $100,000 a yr who’re residing paycheck to paycheck, although decrease than the 52% of paycheck-to-paycheck staff with incomes of lower than $50,000, in keeping with the survey.

However, the excessive earners are the one group that noticed a rise of their paycheck-to-paycheck ranks within the final three years.

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“Employees at higher pay levels aren’t immune to living paycheck to paycheck,” stated Mark Smrecek, the monetary wellbeing market chief for North America at Willis Towers Watson.

Willis Towers Watson polled 9,658 full-time workers from giant and midsize non-public employers in December and January 2022, earlier than the newest inflation readings.

The findings are much like a latest LendingClub survey that discovered 36% of individuals incomes at the very least $250,000 a yr stay paycheck to paycheck.

Quickly rising prices for meals, transportation and different areas of family budgets might put additional stress on households’ skill to economize, Smrecek stated.

The Consumer Price Index was up 8.6% in May from a yr earlier, the very best inflation studying in about 40 years. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate of interest by 0.75 share factors on Wednesday — the biggest enhance since 1994 — as a part of an ongoing effort to rein in shopper prices.

“These numbers are likely to increase if we see these inflation results continue,” Smrecek stated of individuals residing paycheck to paycheck.

The drivers of economic stress differ relying on earnings. The highest earners cited housing bills as essentially the most acute problem, whereas low earners had been extra more likely to report difficulties with debt, for instance, Smrecek stated.

While the survey would not break down particular housing bills, employers have anecdotally pointed to elevated prices for rents and mortgages as staff relocated residences throughout the pandemic, Smrecek added. Higher-income workers are extra possible than decrease earners to have jobs that enable them to work remotely.

Some monetary planners advocate Americans who’re strapped for money attempt adopting a 50-20-30 rule to carry their spending into line. This entails allocating 50% of after-tax earnings to important bills, 30% to discretionary bills, and the remaining 20% to financial savings, funding and debt discount.