What It Means To “Make It” In American In 2018 [Infographic]

Matt Zajechowski https://www.thermosoft.com 2m 399 #america

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

“Making it” in the United States

The term “making it” has different meanings for different people. For some it could mean hitting a certain paygrade at work, for others it may simply mean working at their dream job. To get a better idea of how Americans define “making it” in today’s modern world, Thermosoft Corp recently surveyed 2,000 Americans about what it means to make it and the data is overwhelmingly positive.

The survey sought out to see how satisfied Americans are across a range of different categories including work, money, family and friends, education, travel and current living situations. Let’s look at the results across the different categories the survey data explored.

Money

The survey data found that there are 3 aspects of “making it” financially in America.

1. Never worrying about medical bills
2. Being able to loan money to family and friends
3. Able to donate a significant amount of money to charity

They survey data also found that 77% of respondents would not want more than $1 million in annual income, even if it was offered. The average annual income for someone who “made it” is seen as $147,104, where the average amount surveyed respondents were at now was $57,426 dollars. That’s a pretty big gap from where most people are, to where most people want to be.

Work

The survey data found the average American works just three hours longer per week than the ideal amount. 44% of people have “made it” regarding hours worked, while 36% of people have “made it” regarding vacation time.

Education

The survey data found that 47% of American’s have “made it” regarding education. Most Americans feel that earning your master’s degree or doctoral degree is the gold standard for education in America. Currently only 15% of the surveyed respondents have achieved this level of higher education.

Friends and Family

4 out of 5 surveyed respondents said “making it” means having kids. Having made it also means having at least 4 best friends and being married with kids.

Property

Having “made it” in terms of property ownership means having a house valued at over $461 thousand dollars and a car that’s valued at over $41,986 dollars. 70% of people said owning a car under $50 thousand qualifies as “making it and 70% of people also said owning a home under $500 thousand qualifies as making it.

To see the full survey results check out the full infographic below.

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