iStockphoto / Galeanu Mihai
Achieving the ‘American Dream,’ a phrase coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 amidst the Great Depression, is a level of success and stability that every American has sought to attain for generations.
It is a term so ubiquitous that most people fail to even recognize that there are definable characteristics to the ‘American Dream’ and according to a recent study published in Newsweek, it is now more expensive than ever to reach that goal at $5 million here in the USA.
Achieving The ‘American Dream’ Now Costs $5 Million
James Truslow Adams, the man who coined the term, wrote about it saying “a better, richer, and happier life for all our citizens of every rank.” The idea was American is the land of opportunity and everyone, regardless of upbringing, can/should have the opportunity to better their lives in ways that wasn’t possible with the rigid European social/financial hierarchies.
For the recent look into how much it costs to achieve this dream, Newsweek‘s Aliss Higham spoke with the president and CEO of Illinois-based Ambassador Wealth Management, Phillip E. Battin, who laid out what it costs to achieve it and it’s not cheap.
Here’s how the cost breaks down:
- Retirement: $1.6 million
- Healthcare: $414,208
- Homeownership: $957,594
- Raising a child + college: $876,092
- New cars: $900,346
- Vacations: $180,621
- Pet ownership: $39,381
- Weddings: $38,200
We could spend a lot of time going over what gets wrapped up under ‘retirement’ and how factoring in a massive cushion for fluctuating costs of day-to-day items as well as unforeseen future costs and changes in technology causing other items to dip. But man, $5 million to achieve the ‘American Dream’ is going to sound steep for a lot of people.
That said, break that out over 45 years of prime earning between 20 and 65 (typical retirement age) and that comes out to $111,111.11 per year. The ‘raising a child’ category is interesting too because some people don’t want kids, others want 3-4 children. There’s no wrong answer. But that category fluctuates in enormous ways. Also, $38K for a wedding in 2025 (and the future) is GENEROUS.
$36K is the average wedding cost in 2025 but someone seeking to achieve the American Dream isn’t settling for ‘average,’ they want an incredible wedding for themselves and/or their children. The $5M price tag might be higher than it seems.