Doing Well
June 20, 2026 โข Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
I think the American Dream has been slowly changing for a while now and we just didn't have the numbers to confirm it.
This week we got the data. 5,000 people surveyed, and the short version is: people aren't giving up, they're just working with a completely different definition of success than their parents did.
What does your version of success look like right now? ๐
P.S. If you want to talk through your own finances, you can book a free 1-hour coaching session here โ๏ธ
What was the largest U.S. bill ever printed for public circulation? |
(Actual answer at the end of the newsletter ๐)
A survey of 5,000 people dropped this week ahead of America's 250th birthday, and the findings are worth sitting with. 90% of Americans say inflation has changed what they're willing to spend on. 62% say homeownership feels out of reach. 57% percent say the same about early retirement. Those numbers aren't surprising exactly, but seeing them all together is a little sobering.
What's more interesting is what people are doing about it. Gen Z in particular is ranking flexibility over income, and skilled trades over four-year degrees. The goalposts haven't just moved. For a lot of people, they've been replaced entirely with different goals, ones that are actually within reach.
What you can actually do with this:
๐ Get honest about which milestones are actually yours. A lot of us are chasing things we absorbed from somewhere else, a parent, a cultural script, a LinkedIn post. It's worth stopping to ask whether the house by 30 or retire at 65 timeline is something you actually want, or just something you inherited.
๐ Liquidity is underrated right now. Tying everything up in a down payment or a retirement account you can't touch feels different when the economy is this unpredictable. Having accessible savings isn't a consolation prize. It's just a different kind of asset.
๐ Small and consistent still works. The old dream was largely about deferring, sacrifice now and cash in later. If that timeline doesn't feel realistic, building stability in smaller increments along the way is a real strategy, not a lesser one.
๐ Separate "impossible right now" from "impossible." Homeownership in your current city at current rates might genuinely not be the move. That's worth acknowledging clearly instead of just feeling vaguely bad about it. A different city, a different timeline, or a different goal altogether are all legitimate options.
๐ Talk about money with people your age. A big part of why this shift is happening is that more people are having honest conversations about what things actually cost and what they're actually earning. That kind of normalizing is useful. Keep doing it.
Want to figure out what "making it" actually looks like for your specific situation? That's what free call is for.
๐จ Take action
Trump Accounts launch July 4 (but the fine print matters)
Every eligible child gets a $1,000 government seed. Sounds great until you see the gap: families who max contributions walk away with $271,000 at 18. Families who can only keep the starter deposit? $6,000. Know what you're actually signing up for before July.
Source๐ Pay attention
The "panini generation" is getting squeezed at the worst possible time
Your 50s are your peak savings decade for retirementโฆ and also when you're most likely supporting kids and aging parents simultaneously. If you're in that window, this is not the decade to put your 401(k) on autopilot.
Source๐ Keep an eye
Most Americans are "financially conflicted," and that's not the same as failing
Gallup's new money personality breakdown found 51% of Americans in the "conflicted" middle: not thriving, not drowning, just navigating trade-offs constantly. If that describes you right now, you're actually in the majority. Knowing that matters more than it sounds like it does.
Source๐ Looking Up
The Fed is expected to hold rates steady this week
Kevin Warsh's first meeting as Fed chair is likely to end with no change to interest rates. That's a small but real reprieve. No hike means no immediate pressure on your borrowing costs. For now, steady as she goes.
SourceThe Panic Meter reflects our editorial read on urgency โ not financial advice.
@startdoingwell You weren't bad with money. You were responding to a broken system the only way that made sense. If money stresses you out, you can book a... See more
The share of basic money questions Americans get right (an all-time low)
Americans have never been more financially confident. They've also never scored lower on a national test of basic financial knowledge. The TIAA Institute/Stanford Personal Finance Index covers 28 questions on interest, inflation, budgeting, and retirement. This year the average score fell to just 47%. Questions about risk and retirement were the weakest spots, with barely a third getting those right. The gap between confidence and actual knowledge is widening right when the stakes are highest.
Annual inflation rate for May 2026
Inflation crossed 4% for the first time in three years, and it's almost entirely one thing: energy. Gasoline is up 40.5% from a year ago. Fuel oil up 58.9%. Core inflation held at 2.9%, meaning the broader economy isn't in a spiral yet. Experts say May was likely the peak.
The current U.S. national debt (and it grew by over $1.5 trillion just this year)
As of June 11, the U.S. national debt sits at $39.22 trillion, up from $37.64 trillion at the end of 2025. That's roughly $1.58 trillion added in under six months, at a pace of about $6 billion per day. Every American carries roughly $113,000 of that burden on paper. It starts feeling less abstract when you think about what it means for interest rates, federal spending, and the programs a lot of people quietly depend on.
Need to talk numbers? We can help you sort out your money.
b) $10,000
The $10,000 bill featured Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln's Treasury Secretary, and was last printed in 1945. The government pulled all high-denomination bills from circulation in 1969 over concerns about organized crime and tax evasion. (There was a $100,000 bill, but it never left the Federal Reserve.) Today the largest bill in your wallet is $100.
