Economic anxiety in the United States is no longer confined to the working and lower classes. According to a new Wall Street Journal poll, financial insecurity is increasingly permeating the upper echelons of American society, revealing a nation where even the most affluent are deeply worried about their current finances, their futures, and the prospects of their children.
The Affluent Are Feeling the Squeeze
Historically, the upper and upper-middle classes have been the primary beneficiaries of economic growth. Yet, the new survey reveals a stark shift in sentiment. More than 40% of those who identify as upper or upper-middle class admit they haven't saved enough for a comfortable retirement, and only about 40% feel their financial security has met their life expectations. Furthermore, nearly three in five report being strained by soaring gasoline prices.
Perhaps most striking is their pessimism regarding the next generation. A staggering 86% of affluent respondents lack confidence that their children's lives will be better than their own—a massive jump from 64% in 2019. Additionally, 65% of the wealthiest Americans now feel the country's political and economic systems are "stacked against people like me," a remarkable sentiment that is up significantly from just 29% in 2017.
**The Middle-Class Reality Check**
For the middle class, the traditional promise of financial stability seems to be fracturing. When asked to define a middle-class income, respondents generally pointed to a household income between $65,000 and $135,000. However, living within that bracket is far from comfortable. Only about 20% of middle-class Americans describe their status as a place of comfort, while an equal number call it a place of stress, and half say it is both.
The financial realities for this group are grim: only one in four can save beyond emergency expenses, afford a comfortable retirement, or feel they have achieved their expected financial security. Just as many are burdened by credit card debt that they cannot pay off monthly. Compounding this despair is a crisis of faith in upward mobility; 56% of middle-class respondents believe a four-year college degree is no longer worth the cost, while only a third say it is.
Despite these current struggles, the data does show substantial upward mobility. Many middle- and upper-middle-class Americans reported growing up in lower economic brackets, suggesting that while they achieved the American Dream, they are deeply skeptical their children will be able to replicate it.
**A Disconnect Between Data and Reality**
Economists have long been puzzled by the gap between robust macroeconomic indicators—such as record stock markets, strong hiring, and healthy consumer spending—and pervasive public pessimism. The poll highlights several drivers of this disconnect. Stubborn inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, and rising gas prices have effectively wiped out over a year of wage gains. Meanwhile, white-collar workers are increasingly anxious about artificial intelligence displacing their jobs, and credit card delinquencies have hit a 15-year high.
**Privilege Remains, but Optimism Fades**
Despite their anxieties, the wealthiest Americans still enjoy significant privileges. They are far more likely than lower-income groups to hold passports, take annual vacations, own homes and stocks, and live in two-income households.
However, this upward mobility and relative wealth have not translated into optimism for the future. Across all income levels, only about 25% of Americans feel the country is on the right track, while nearly 70% believe it is heading in the wrong direction. This bleak outlook is reflected in political sentiment as well, with strong disapproval of President Donald Trump's job performance ranging from 54% to 59% across all class demographics. Only about 30% of Americans across all classes expect their personal finances to improve in the next year.
Ultimately, the poll paints a picture of a deeply stressed America. As John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster involved in the survey, noted, "What we’re seeing in this poll is Americans under siege." From the working class to the country club, financial fear has become a unifying, albeit bleak, American experience.
Tech workers who regularly use artificial intelligence tools are far less likely to be laid off compared to colleagues who use AI less frequently, Bloomberg reports, citing new Gallup research. It puts infrequent users' layoff risk at 18%, tripling the 6% layoff risk for frequent users. Earlier this year, researchers tracked how often 23,000 employed and displaced workers used AI, then factored in AI fluency and layoff probabilities in tech and non-tech industries. The risk disparity underscores the importance of embracing AI across fields, but particularly in tech.
Walmart-owned Sam's Club wants to shine bright like a diamond to woo younger shoppers. It gave its logo a polish — substituting a diamond for its apostrophe — as part of a new branding strategy aimed at Gen Z and millennials. The diamond symbolizes shared ownership, Fast Company notes, rather than sole ownership by late Walmart founder Sam Walton. The big-box chain plans to remodel existing locations and open new ones, while updating stores with more tech, including its Scan & Go checkout system, as it challenges Costco's dominance.
JetBlue Airways is set to close its flight attendant and tech bases at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport and its tech base at New York's LaGuardia Airport later this year, CNBC reports. The airline is also discontinuing seasonal routes from Newark to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but plans to expand service from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The cuts, which JetBlue says will not result in job losses, aim to reduce costs and increase profitability for the struggling airline.
World Cup visitors can experience the history of Boston, the scenery of Seattle, and the bustle of New York. But what they really love about America is ranch dressing. They love it so much, in fact, that the Transportation Security Administration has issued a series of humorous reminders beseeching international travelers to stop packing their carry-ons with the buttermilk-based condiment. "Please avoid chugging your ranch outside security; the airlines will check it for you," the TSA advised. There's good news for ranch lovers, however: Kraft is planning TSA-compliant packaging.
Before you fire someone, ask yourself one thing:
Is this who they are, or just what they haven't learned yet?
A question I get all the time: "Mark, do I fire this person or not?"
And almost always, the answer is no, not yet.
What looks like a performance problem is usually just a training one.
The two things I actually want to know: can they be coached, and do they live your core values?
Everything else is useless information.
This is what I'd recommend doing across a few common scenarios:
Train them:
✅ Always late to the office.
↳ Most people don't realize that being on time is a skill. Teach it before you judge it.
✅ Keeps missing deadlines but always shows up with a solution.
↳ That's someone worth investing in.
✅ Ignores the process you built but still outperforms everyone.
↳ Coach them, but also ask questions. There's a good chance their way is better than yours, and your process needs an update.
✅ Hasn't hit a target all quarter.
↳ Train them. But look closely, because sometimes it's the manager who needs the training for not holding them accountable in the first place.
Let them go:
❌ Top performer who tanks team morale every single day.
Some are coachable. Most aren't. Left alone, they become a cancer that spreads through the whole organization.
❌ Repeatedly disagrees with you in public.
↳ This one's tricky, because sometimes they turn out to be right.
↳ Start by coaching them on how things are done here.
↳ But if it keeps happening, it's usually a values problem, and that's when you have to make the call.
The pattern underneath all of it:
Skill gaps are trainable. Values gaps are not.
If someone shares your core values and just needs to get better, you train them.
If the issue is who they are rather than what they know, no amount of coaching fixes that.
And the longer you wait, the more it costs the good people around them.
What main sign do you look for that suggests someone is coachable?