Michael Hiltzik: 'I’ve pointed out in the past that articles like these are a genre of financial reporting all its own. “The idea seems to be that wealth doesn’t buy happiness or even, really, wealth, so we shouldn’t judge these people too harshly,” I wrote in 2017. …
'Curiously, households with income between $100,000 and $300,000 reported the most contentment with their ability to save for retirement — their “earnings appear sufficient to cover the essentials, service debt, and still leave room to build toward the future,” according to the report.
'Things turn darker for those with $300,000 or more. Goldman Sachs notes judiciously that “their reported insecurity is not about covering the essentials but about ... more complex financial lives [and] higher lifestyle expectations.”'
A new round of stories asks us to feel sorry for families living paycheck-to-paycheck on $500,000 a year
By Michael Hiltzik
Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-10-20/a-new-round-of-stories-asks-us-to-feel-sorry-for-families-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-on-500-000-year