Some Americans who secured jobs, homes, and stocks a few years ago are thriving financially.
The job market has tightened, home prices have surged, and stock prices have risen.
But some Americans are struggling to find jobs and afford homes — and not everyone invests in stocks.
Think back on your life two to three years ago. Did you have a job, own a home, and have significant investments in the stock market?
If the answer was yes to all three, then there’s a decent chance you’re feeling OK about the state of your finances. But if you didn’t check all three boxes, you might be among the Americans who remain frustrated by the economy.
If you had a job a few years ago and haven’t quit, there’s a good chance you’re still employed — layoffs have been low relative to historical levels. There’s also a good chance you’ve benefited from wage growth, which has exceeded inflation over the past year. But if you didn’t have a job and are searching for one now — including recent college graduates — you’re facing a considerably tougher labor market.
If you bought a home before 2021, there’s a good chance the value of your home has risen considerably in recent years. It’s also likely that you locked in a low mortgage rate. But if you’re trying to buy a home today, you’re facing a housing market that’s much less affordable than it was a few years ago.
If you’ve been investing in the stock market for a while, there’s a good chance you’ve benefited from rising stock values in recent years. But if you’re among the significant number of Americans who don’t own stocks directly or through retirement accounts or investment funds — 42% of US households as of 2022, the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances found — this hasn’t helped your finances. And people who want to start investing today might have a hard time buying stocks at a discount because by some indicators, many are overvalued, though maybe a bit less so after US stocks fell in recent weeks.
A consistent paycheck, homeownership, and stock holdings are perhaps the holy trinity of wealth creation for many Americans, but not everyone is well positioned to benefit from all three in the years ahead. It’s among the reasons, despite falling inflation, many Americans aren’t happy with the economy. The longer some people are boxed out of these paths to wealth creation, the more difficult it could be for them to pay the bills, become financially secure, and retire as early as they desire.
But that doesn’t mean everyone has given up. Business Insider has interviewed several people who are actively looking for jobs, saving for homes, and investing more of their money than they used to.
Three of them shared how they’re trying to build wealth — and what’s held them back.
Jobs are getting harder to find
In March 2022, the unemployment rate was 3.6% — near the lowest level in decades — and the US had a record-high 12.2 million job openings. But the job market has slowed over the past year. Last week’s jobs report revealed that the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose from 4.1% in June to 4.3% in July, raising concerns about the health of the labor market. The number of job openings has fallen to 8.2 million as of June.
Still, while hiring has slowed across the economy, layoffs remain muted. So as long as you locked in a job a few years ago, there’s a good chance you still have one and have been able to keep collecting paychecks.
Roland Hesmondhalgh, a millennial in Virginia, has been struggling to find a job over the past four years, he previously told BI. He said he’s been looking for roles in journalism but has expanded his job search to restaurant and retail jobs.
“It hurts to see so many people and news stories saying there’s record hiring and I can’t get anything even at minimum wage,” he said.
The housing market is unaffordable for many Americans
Many people who bought homes a few years ago have benefited from rising home prices. Millennials held $3.5 trillion in real-estate wealth as of the fourth quarter of 2019, according to Federal Reserve data. In the first quarter of 2024, this more than doubled to $8.6 trillion. That’s why buying a home a few years ago has been a financial boon for some Americans.
For eager homebuyers, it’s not clear when the housing market will become more affordable — the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts, the first of which is expected to come in September, might not help much.
As of August 1, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.73%. It was about 3% in 2021 and didn’t rise above 5% until the middle of 2022. In the first quarter of 2021, the median sale price for a US home was $355,000 — it was $412,000 as of the second quarter of 2024.
To be sure, many Americans are homeowners, roughly two-thirds of US households are owner-occupied. But for aspiring homeowners, it’s a much tougher market than it was a few years ago.
Madelyn Driver and her husband both have six-figure incomes, but the Pennsylvania couple is struggling to find a home in their budget, Driver previously told BI.
“We’re finding that even in a vast country like the US, housing options that align with our desires for green spaces, a somewhat metropolitan vibe, and cultural vibrancy are surprisingly out of budget,” she said.
Stock ownership is making some people feel better about the economy
Every month, the University of Michigan publishes a report based on its consumer-sentiment survey — an oft-cited gauge of how Americans feel about the economy. The survey has found that consumer sentiment plummeted during the pandemic and remains well below prepandemic levels.
But one group of Americans has become considerably more optimistic about the economy in recent years: those who own a lot of stocks. A University of Michigan report published on July 26 said that consumer sentiment among the top one-third of Americans with the largest stockholdings had risen 71% since June 2022, compared with an 11% gain for Americans with no stock holdings. The report noted that the sentiment gap between these two groups was higher than the sentiment gap between Democrats and Republicans — the former had a more favorable view of the economy.
It’s no surprise why US stockholders might be feeling good: The S&P 500, a stock-market index consisting of the 500 largest US public companies, has risen considerably in recent years.
“Rising stock markets benefit consumers with stock portfolios but leave behind consumers who do not own stocks,” the University of Michigan report said.
To be sure, not everyone has enough extra cash to invest in the stock market. Additionally, buying stocks isn’t guaranteed to generate wealth, though experts say some investment principles, like a diversified stock portfolio, can give investors a better chance at success.
With the proper strategy and some luck, investing can be a valuable source of wealth generation. This is among the reasons a growing share of Americans have dipped their toes into the stock market. As of 2022, 58% of US households owned stocks directly or through retirement accounts or investment funds, compared with 52% in 2016, according to the Federal Reserve.
Tiffany Bell, a millennial business-management professional in Houston, didn’t always take retirement savings seriously, she previously told BI.
When she was in her early 20s, she said she didn’t participate in her company’s 401(k) plan. But after about a year of “chastising” from one of her supervisors, she eventually gave in, she said. Over the past decade, Bell said she’d grown her savings and investments to roughly $280,000.
However, Bell said she’s not sure that she’d be able to ever reach her retirement goal of $3 million.
“Ideally, I’d like to overshoot the target and actually have something to pass down to family,” she said. “But it is depressing to think I might not even be able to save enough for myself.”
Are you struggling to find a job, buy a home, or save for retirement? Reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.
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