千禧一代夫妇年薪6位数仍生活艰难，只因学生贷负担沉重
表面上看，凯莉和她的丈夫应该衣食无忧。这对年轻夫妇幸福地生活在纽约上州，他们在2020年房地产市场失控之前买了一套房子，并计划每个月为退休计划和流动储蓄账户存款几千美元。凯莉以远程办公的方式从事一份自己热爱的职业，可以获得一份相当于大城市工资水平的薪酬，尽管他们当地只需要负担中等城市的生活成本。但与许多千禧一代一样，这对夫妇依旧推迟了生孩子的计划，并且不确定是否会生育子女。
凯莉表示：“在考虑成家的时候，我甚至犹豫过是否要这样做。”这一切都要归咎于他们所背负的学生贷款。 “我绝对不想在尚未还清自己的学生贷款时，为孩子的学生贷款进行储蓄。”
出于保护隐私考虑，29岁的凯莉要求隐去自己的姓氏。她收入12.5万美元（可能获得10%的年度奖金），承担起了养家糊口的主要责任，但这是最新的收入水平。在从事新工作之前，她的年收入最高只有约62,000美元。他们也是最近才能每月存下几千美元。与其他许多收入达到六位数的家庭一样，凯莉和丈夫并没有足够的财务缓冲。
凯莉对《财富》杂志表示：“我的状况可以用捉襟见肘来形容。我本来应该有10年的储蓄，但事实上并非如此。”
而且他们还要背负学生贷款。夫妻二人的学校负债共计64,000美元，这是令他们感到压力的主要来源。过去几年，得益于联邦政府的新冠还款和利息延期支付计划，他们每个月需要偿还的负债为400美元，而不是通常的800美元。这对他们“追加”储蓄供款有很大帮助，但暂停还款计划在8月底到期后，情况将发生改变。
他们感觉两人的财务状况非常紧张，因此凯莉表示，她难以想象生活成本增加的后果，尤其是每个月增加数百甚至数千美元育儿成本。在夫妻二人16.6万美元的收入中，凯莉的收入占比高达75%，因此，她无法像异性情侣中的女性那样离开劳动力队伍，去照顾子女。他们发现他们陷入了某种程度的财务困境。
凯莉说道：“虽然我的收入有六位数，但我依旧感觉自己无法取代成功。与前辈们相比，12.5万美元的收入根本不够。”
学生贷款增加财务压力
不止凯莉感觉自己在财务上陷入了两难境地。她和丈夫即将成为所谓的HENRY族，即高收入但尚不富裕。他们16.6万美元的收入高于美国家庭的中位数收入，但随着生活成本持续上涨，就连高收入者的生活也变得艰难。一项最近的研究发现，约34%年收入不低于10万美元的家庭只能靠工资维持生计。
凯莉表示，如果美国总统乔·拜登的大规模学生贷款延期还款计划能够被美国最高法院（U.S. Supreme Court）批准延期，这对夫妻的债务负担几乎将减半，这让他们更容易承受，或许会让他们考虑生儿育女。但考虑到法院的保守倾向，他们不会将希望寄托于此。
债务减免是个未知数，而在财务状况方面，凯莉是个务实派。虽然有许多财务状况更艰难的夫妻顺利养育了子女，但凯莉目前却只能专注于自身的财务保障，不断增加退休储蓄和攒钱买下一套房子。考虑到她的年龄，她依旧认为距离退休储蓄的目标仍相去甚远。
他们目前居住的房子是一套两居室，面积为800平方英尺。但随着利率和物价上涨，一套同样大小的房子比他们的购买价上涨了10万美元。凯莉表示，即使在生活成本更低的地方，他们依旧买不起一套增加家庭成员所需要的房子。
他们必须做出取舍。以目前的财务状况，她没有能力同时进行退休储蓄、偿还债务、为买房攒钱和抚养子女。
她说道：“在还需要偿还学生贷款时，退休储蓄似乎无关紧要。而随着育儿成本上涨，生育子女似乎是不可能的事情。我发现我非常荣幸，但我依旧感受到日益沉重的财务压力。”（财富中文网）
翻译：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
表面上看，凯莉和她的丈夫应该衣食无忧。这对年轻夫妇幸福地生活在纽约上州，他们在2020年房地产市场失控之前买了一套房子，并计划每个月为退休计划和流动储蓄账户存款几千美元。凯莉以远程办公的方式从事一份自己热爱的职业，可以获得一份相当于大城市工资水平的薪酬，尽管他们当地只需要负担中等城市的生活成本。但与许多千禧一代一样，这对夫妇依旧推迟了生孩子的计划，并且不确定是否会生育子女。
凯莉表示：“在考虑成家的时候，我甚至犹豫过是否要这样做。”这一切都要归咎于他们所背负的学生贷款。 “我绝对不想在尚未还清自己的学生贷款时，为孩子的学生贷款进行储蓄。”
出于保护隐私考虑，29岁的凯莉要求隐去自己的姓氏。她收入12.5万美元（可能获得10%的年度奖金），承担起了养家糊口的主要责任，但这是最新的收入水平。在从事新工作之前，她的年收入最高只有约62,000美元。他们也是最近才能每月存下几千美元。与其他许多收入达到六位数的家庭一样，凯莉和丈夫并没有足够的财务缓冲。
凯莉对《财富》杂志表示：“我的状况可以用捉襟见肘来形容。我本来应该有10年的储蓄，但事实上并非如此。”
而且他们还要背负学生贷款。夫妻二人的学校负债共计64,000美元，这是令他们感到压力的主要来源。过去几年，得益于联邦政府的新冠还款和利息延期支付计划，他们每个月需要偿还的负债为400美元，而不是通常的800美元。这对他们“追加”储蓄供款有很大帮助，但暂停还款计划在8月底到期后，情况将发生改变。
他们感觉两人的财务状况非常紧张，因此凯莉表示，她难以想象生活成本增加的后果，尤其是每个月增加数百甚至数千美元育儿成本。在夫妻二人16.6万美元的收入中，凯莉的收入占比高达75%，因此，她无法像异性情侣中的女性那样离开劳动力队伍，去照顾子女。他们发现他们陷入了某种程度的财务困境。
凯莉说道：“虽然我的收入有六位数，但我依旧感觉自己无法取代成功。与前辈们相比，12.5万美元的收入根本不够。”
学生贷款增加财务压力
不止凯莉感觉自己在财务上陷入了两难境地。她和丈夫即将成为所谓的HENRY族，即高收入但尚不富裕。他们16.6万美元的收入高于美国家庭的中位数收入，但随着生活成本持续上涨，就连高收入者的生活也变得艰难。一项最近的研究发现，约34%年收入不低于10万美元的家庭只能靠工资维持生计。
凯莉表示，如果美国总统乔·拜登的大规模学生贷款延期还款计划能够被美国最高法院（U.S. Supreme Court）批准延期，这对夫妻的债务负担几乎将减半，这让他们更容易承受，或许会让他们考虑生儿育女。但考虑到法院的保守倾向，他们不会将希望寄托于此。
债务减免是个未知数，而在财务状况方面，凯莉是个务实派。虽然有许多财务状况更艰难的夫妻顺利养育了子女，但凯莉目前却只能专注于自身的财务保障，不断增加退休储蓄和攒钱买下一套房子。考虑到她的年龄，她依旧认为距离退休储蓄的目标仍相去甚远。
他们目前居住的房子是一套两居室，面积为800平方英尺。但随着利率和物价上涨，一套同样大小的房子比他们的购买价上涨了10万美元。凯莉表示，即使在生活成本更低的地方，他们依旧买不起一套增加家庭成员所需要的房子。
他们必须做出取舍。以目前的财务状况，她没有能力同时进行退休储蓄、偿还债务、为买房攒钱和抚养子女。
她说道：“在还需要偿还学生贷款时，退休储蓄似乎无关紧要。而随着育儿成本上涨，生育子女似乎是不可能的事情。我发现我非常荣幸，但我依旧感受到日益沉重的财务压力。”（财富中文网）
翻译：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
On paper, Kelly and her husband have it all figured out. The young couple lives happily in upstate New York, bought a home in 2020 before the housing market went bananas, and aim to contribute a few thousand dollars each month to their retirement plans and liquid savings account. Kelly works remotely at a job she loves, that pays her a big city salary despite her medium-cost-of-living location. But still, like many other millennials, the couple has put off having children, and isn’t sure they ever will.
“When I think of starting a family, I have hesitation to even wanting to do that,” Kelly says. Blame all their student-loan debt. “Starting to save for your kids’ student loans while still paying your own off, that’s something I don’t want to do.”
Kelly, who is 29 and asked to go by only her first name for privacy reasons, is the breadwinner, earning $125,000 (with the possibility of a 10% annual bonus), but that’s a new development. The most she ever brought home before her new job was around $62,000 per year. The thousands they are saving each month are also a new development—like many other six-figure households, Kelly and her husband haven’t built much of a financial cushion.
“I’m kind of playing catch-up,” Kelly tells Fortune. “I should have been saving for 10 years and I wasn’t.”
And then there’s student loans hanging over their heads. Their combined $64,000 worth of school debt is a major source of stress. For the past few years, they’ve been paying $400 each month rather than the typical $800, thanks to the federal Covid-19 payment and interest moratorium. That’s been instrumental to their “catch-up” savings contributions, but when the payment pause ends at the end of August, things will change.
Their finances feel tight enough as is that Kelly says she can’t imagine adding in additional costs, especially not childcare to the tune of hundreds or even thousands each month. And given that Kelly earns 75% of the couple’s $166,000 joint income, she would not be able to leave the workforce, as women in heterosexual relationships still tend to do, to take care of their children. They find themselves in a sort of financial bind.
“Even though I make six figures, I still feel like I can’t get ahead,” she says. “Compared to past generations, $125,000 doesn’t feel like enough anymore.”
Student loan payments add to mounting financial pressure
Kelly is far from alone in feeling like she’s stuck between a financial rock and a hard place. She and her husband are on their way to being HENRYs—high earners, not rich yet—and the $166,000 they earn puts them well above the median U.S. household income, but things are tough for even these high earners as the cost of living grows higher and higher. Around 34% of households making at least $100,000 per year are living paycheck to paycheck, a recent survey found.
Were President Joe Biden’s widespread student loan forgiveness plan to survive its time at the U.S. Supreme Court, the couple’s debt burden would be almost halved, Kelly says, making it a much more manageable sum that might allow the couple to consider expanding their family. But they’re not counting on the relief, given the conservative bent of the court.
Debt cancelation is anything but a sure thing, and Kelly is pragmatic when it comes to her financial position. Plenty of people in tougher financial spots have children and make it work, but Kelly can only focus on her own financial oxygen mask at the moment by building up her retirement savings—and still, she feels nowhere near where she “should” be, given her age—and putting away some money for the couple’s next home.
They currently live in an 800-square-foot, two-bedroom home. But with interest rates and prices as high as they are now—comparable homes are $100,000 more expensive than they were when the couple bought their current home—Kelly says even in a place with a lower cost-of-living, they just can’t afford a new home big enough for a growing family.
There are trade-offs. She can’t make the math work on funding her retirement, paying off her debt, saving for a home, and affording children.
“Saving for retirement seems trivial when student loans loom over our heads. And starting a family seems impossible with the cost of childcare on the rise,” she says. “I recognize that I’m extremely privileged, but I still feel mounting pressure when it comes to our finances.”
