A household income above $500,000 might seem to rule out financial stress. Yet a substantial share of Americans earning that much say they are struggling to get ahead.

More than a third of respondents with household incomes above $500,000 — 36.6% — say they primarily live paycheck to paycheck, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management's annual Retirement Survey and Insights Report 2026. Only one group reported a higher share: households earning less than $50,000, where 60.8% said the same.

The report's first key finding frames the broader problem. Housing, health care, 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."

Prices are rising faster than paychecks

The pattern will come as little surprise to most Americans. Consumer prices have climbed roughly 22% over the past five years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer price index, driving up the cost of groceries, health care, rent, and mortgages. In practical terms, goods and services that cost $100 five years ago now run about $122. Fuel has added to the squeeze: gasoline prices rose 27.4% year over year in August.

Households have more income to absorb those costs than they once did. Median household income hit a record $87,460 in 2025, according to the Census Bureau. Even so, many families say rising prices are squeezing both their monthly budgets and their long-term savings.

The strain persists even though the broader economy looks solid. Unemployment stood at 4.2% in September, and consumer spending rose by $190.8 billion in August, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Beneath strong employment and resilient spending, Goldman's report identifies "growing financial pressures that threaten long-term retirement readiness."

Retirement saving momentum has stalled as well. 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 that Goldman called the largest single-year decline since 2020. Because the survey asks the same questions year over year, the figure serves as a before-and-after gauge of saver behavior — and future of the report are the place to watch for whether this year's pullback proves temporary or marks a lasting shift. Younger workers have felt the pinch acutely; as Fortune previously reported, many are taking on extra work to make ends meet.

A U-shaped curve of financial strain

The more striking finding is how many households earning roughly 5.7 times the national median describe themselves as barely keeping up. The survey drew on responses from 5,106 people, including 3,612 workers and 1,494 retirees ages 45 to 75. The age range sharpens the stakes: respondents span workers approaching retirement and people already retired, stages at which fewer working years remain to recover from a savings shortfall. Respondents chose one of three descriptions of their finances: primarily living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to make progress on long-term goals; making moderate progress; or making significant progress on both short- and long-term goals.

Goldman grouped respondents into six income bands: under $50,000; $50,000 to $100,000; $100,000 to $200,000; $200,000 to $300,000; $300,000 to $500,000; and above $500,000. The paycheck-to-paycheck share fell from 60.8% in the lowest band to 22.2% among households earning $100,000 to $200,000, then climbed 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 were the most likely to report significant progress. In that band, 42.2% said they were making meaningful headway on both short- and long-term financial goals.

Credit card habits follow the same curve. 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% of households earning under $50,000, and well above the 30% of households earning $200,000 to $300,000. Paying only the minimum, by definition, means carrying a balance forward from month to month and accruing interest on it.

Top earners are also putting off their plans. Eighty percent of respondents earning more than $500,000 say they have had to delay a major financial goal despite being employed, the highest share of any income group. Forty-five percent say they have delayed retirement savings specifically, also the highest of any group.

Why big paychecks don't always feel big

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 among 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, 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.

Still, the data challenges a common assumption, Goldman wrote: more income does not automatically buy more financial security. The next reads on the squeeze between prices and paychecks will come from routinely published government data — monthly updates to the consumer price index and the Census Bureau's annual income figures will show how that balance shifts from here.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.