A new report revealed that the long sought-after American Dream costs more than most Americans' paychecks can cover, and it's only getting worse.
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it → reveal → more
Eight common milestones - buying a house, buying a car, having two children and sending them to college, having a wedding, paying for heathcare, owning pets, and vacationing once a year - now costs the average American a staggering $5.3 million.
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milestones → buy → pets
This is a 4.1 percent increase from just last year, Investopedia found.
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Investopedia → find → ?
Owning a home is now the most costly pillar of the American dream, the median price of a single-family home totaling to more than $420,000 and a 30-year mortgage averaging at 6.32 percent, the report found.
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report → own → percent
'This low sales activity that we are experiencing is clearly due to the lack of demand, not due to limited supply, higher mortgage rates are the big reason for that,' Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors's chief economist, told Reuters.
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Yun → experience → Reuters
Owning a car is the second-biggest cost, the study showed.
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study → own → car
Keeping two cars costs about $1.2 million, which includes insurance, maintenance, registration and fuel for 15,000 miles per year.
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which → keep → year
In terms of retirement, less than half (45 percent) of today's working force is expected to have enough money to leave comfortably after they retire, according to Gallup.
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they → work → Gallup
Inversely, four in five current retirees (82 percent) said they have enough saved to live comfortably, the report found.
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report → say → enough
More than half of today's workforce said they plan to keep working part time when they reach retirement age, Gallup reported.
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Gallup → say → age
Only one quarter plans to stop working completely.
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quarter → plan → ?
'Nonretirees' plans to keep working align with the fact that they expect to retire later than previous generations did,' Gallup reported.
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Gallup → keep → fact
Most Americans are being priced out of owning a home, with single-family homes averaging at $420,000.
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homes → price → 420,000
Pictured: Stock image of a neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio
Owning two cars costs up to $1.2 million with all maintenance fees considered, studies show
Raising two kids and sending them to college, a milestone which represents enough financial stability to raise more than one child and support them financially into adulthood, is starting to slip out of reach for most Americans as well.
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which → picture → Americans
'Raising two children through age 17 costs just over $700,000, up 9.5% from last year, the largest increase of any expense,' Investopedia reported.
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Investopedia → raise → expense
College tuitions have maintained a steady rise in costs over the decades.
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tuitions → maintain → decades
Tuition at all four-year universities in the country is projected to increase by an average of 2.28 percent for the upcoming academic year, a report by Education Data Initiative found.
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report → project → Initiative
Rising healthcare costs also pose a major risk to the stability many Americans work towards.
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Americans → rise → stability
'An estimated 60%–65% of personal bankruptcies are tied to unpaid medical bills, and it’s also a cause for reduced credit ratings,' Health Policy and Management scholar Elizabeth Fowler said in a report provided by Johns Hopkins University.
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Fowler → estimate → University
The term American Dream was first coined by writer and historian James Truslow Adams in 1931, in his book 'Epic of America.'
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Dream → coin → America
'The American dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society in which upward mobility is possible for everyone,' Adams wrote.
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Adams → bear → everyone
Despite the numbers, a total of 69 percent of Americans still believe they will personally achieve the American dream.
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they → believe → dream
This optimism is down four percentage points compared to last year, the report found.
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report → compare → year
The Aporia
