70 percent of employees in the United States: Gallup, Inc., “State of the American Workplace,” http://www.gallup.com/services/178514/state-american-workplace.aspx?.
69 percent of Americans: Cameron Huddleston, “69 percent of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings,” https://www.gobankingrates.com/personal-finance/data-americans-savings/.
Among the 83 million millennials in the United States: Amelia Josephson, “The Average Salary of a Millennial,” https://smartasset.com/retirement/the-average-salary-of-a-millennial.
With an average of $36,000 in student loan debt: “A Look at the Shocking Student Loan Debt Statistics for 2018,” Student Loan Hero, https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/.
millennials under twenty-five are saving: “How America Saves 2017,” Vanguard Group, https://pressroom.vanguard.com/nonindexed/How-America-Saves-2017.pdf.
As of 2016, the median household income: U.S. Census Bureau, “Median Household Income in the United States,” https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2017/comm/income-map.html.
48 percent of Americans over fifty-five: 2017 Retirement Confidence Survey, Employee Benefit Research Institute, https://www.ebri.org/surveys/rcs/2017/ [inactive].
average American watches 5.4 hours of TV a day: John Koblin, “How Much Do We Love TV? Let Us Count the Ways,” https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/business/media/nielsen-survey-media-viewing.html.
the stock market tends to experience average annual gains: Bill Barker, “How Have Stocks Fared the Past 50 Years? You’ll Be Surprised,” https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/22/how-have-stocks-fared-the-last-50-years-youll-be-s.aspx.
Thirty-two percent of credit card holders: Jamie Gonzalez and Tamara Holmes, “Credit Card Debt Statistics,” https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-debt-statistics-1276.php.
Warren Buffett, the world’s most successful investor: Peter Walker, “Multi-billionaire Warren Buffett Made $32.2m a Day in 2016 (the Year of Populism),” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/warren-buffett-billions-millions-makes-per-day-2016-berkshire-hathaway-donald-trump-gates-foundation-a7500126.html.
Americans on average spend roughly 53 minutes: Christopher Ingraham, “The American Commute Is Worse Today Than It’s Ever Been,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/02/22/the-american-commute-is-worse-today-than-its-ever-been/.
In 2016 the average American family’s before-tax income: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures 2016, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm.
the average American household: Nerdwallet’s American 2017 Household Credit Card Debt Study, https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/average-credit-card-debt-household/.
The cost of housing accounts for about 33 percent: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures 2016, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm.
over $96 billion in car loans: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “Household Debt Surpasses Its Peak Reached During the Recession in 2008,” https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2017/rp170517.
The average monthly new car loan payment: Peter Gareffa, “Auto Loan Lengths Soar to Record High, Edmunds Finds,” https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/auto-industry/auto-loan-lengths-soar-to-record-high-edmunds-finds.html.
the average cost of owning a car: AAA NewsRoom, “Your Driving Costs,” http://newsroom.aaa.com/auto/your-driving-costs/.
Only about 34 percent of Americans: Stephen Miller, “Employees Dazed and Confused by Benefit Choices,” https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/open-enroll-benefits-confusion.aspx.
In 2016, 43 percent of the American workforce: Niraj Chokshi, “Out of the Office: More People Are Working Remotely, Survey Finds,” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/us/remote-workers-work-from-home.html.
Just getting 1 percent bigger raises: Lauren Lyons Cole, “The Key to Earning More Money May Be Switching Jobs—and this Chart Proves It,” https://businessinsider.com/earn-more-money-switching-jobs-2017-7.
Eighty-nine percent of Americans: Stephen Miller, “Many Would Rather Find a New Job Than Ask for a Raise,” https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensation/pages/hesitant-to-request-raise.aspx.
Companies typically use either: Julie Kantor, “High Turnover Costs Way More Than You Think,” https://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-kantor/high-turnover-costs-way-more-than-you-think_b_9197238.html.
But research shows that . . . self-employed workers: Olivia Petter, “Self-Employed People Are Happiest Types of Workers, Study Claims,” https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/self-employed-happiest-workers-job-freedom-employees-study-sheffield-a8259206.html.
On October 19, 1987, the U.S. stock market: http://www.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3024-djia_alltime.html.
90 percent of active investing: Burton Malkiel, “Index Funds Still Beat ‘Active’ Portfolio Management,” https://www.wsj.com/articles/index-funds-still-beat-active-portfolio-management-1496701157.
appreciated an average of 43 percent: “Stock Market vs. Real Estate: Which Has Rebounded Better Since the Recession?” Redfin Real-Time, https://www.redfin.com/blog/2016/11/stock-market-vs-real-estate-which-has-rebounded-better-since-the-recession.html.
in the U.S. it’s 62.7 percent: U.S. Census Bureau, “U.S. Cities Are Home to 62.7 Percent of the U.S. Population but Comprise Just 3.5 Percent of Land Area,” https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15–33.html [inactive].
Globally 54 percent of the population: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “World’s Population Increasingly Urban with More Than Half Living in Urban Areas,” http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects-2014.html.
Real estate, by contrast, appreciates between 3 and 5 percent: Meredith Miller, “What Does ‘Normal’ Home Value Appreciation Look Like?” Zillow Research, https://www.zillow.com/research/zillow-home-value-appreciation-5235/.
sale price relatively low: “Stock Market vs. Real Estate: Which Has Rebounded Better Since the Recession?” Redfin Real-Time, https://www.redfin.com/blog/2016/11/stock-market-vs-real-estate-which-has-rebounded-better-since-the-recession.html.
If you make $34,000 per year: Hugo Gye, “America Is the 1 Percent: You Need Just $34,000 Annual Income to Be in the Global Elite . . . and Half the World’s Richest People Live in the U.S.,” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2082385/We-1--You-need-34k-income-global-elite—half-worlds-richest-live-U-S.html.