This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 16, 2011 - About one-third of Americans today say they have achieved their "American Dream" -- but 43 percent of those folks are concerned about losing it.
That's one of the takeaways from the 2010 MetLife Study of the American Dream, which was released last summer. For the past four years the company has been surveying Americans about their personal goals and finances.
The most recent poll cited a growing "treadmill" effect: Those who haven't yet achieved their dreams are feeling "behind" while those who have reached their goals are worried about falling behind.
On one hand, the survey found good old-fashioned American optimism: 70 percent said they believe it's possible to achieve the dream in their lifetime.
But the poll also turned up worrisome numbers:
- Nearly half (47 percent) of those polled say they have given money to a family member in the past year to help them pay bills and more than one-third (35 percent) said a family member had given them money in the past year.
- Just 12 percent said they could meet their financial obligations for a year should they lose their jobs. And 19 percent said they are living paycheck to paycheck and would be unable to pay their bills if they were out of work for two weeks.
So, what about you? Have you achieved your American Dream?
Here are some sample questions from the survey. Compare your response to the poll results, which are in parentheses.
1. Do you expect the U.S. economy to be better, worse or about the same in 2010 than it was in 2009?
(41 percent said the economy would be about the same in 2010; 33 percent said it would be better; 26 percent said it would be worse.)
2. Do you expect your personal situation to be better, worse or about the same in 2010 than it was in 2009?
(41 percent of Americans said their personal situation would be the same; 35 percent said it would improve and 24 percent it would be worse.)
3. Which of the following would you be willing to do to achieve or sustain the American dream for yourself or your family?
- Take a job for which I'm overqualified? (47 percent)
- Take a pay cut? (24 percent)
- Relocate? (31 percent)
- Change industries? (36 percent)
- Start my own business? (32 percent)
- Go back to school? (36 percent)
- Get additional job training? (45 percent)
- None of the above? (17 percent)
4. In the past two years have you had to take on more responsibility at work due to cutbacks in staffing?
(56 percent said they took on more responsibility.)
5. How has your household spending changed in the last year?
(74 percent said they were spending less.)
6. How long could you afford to be out of work and still meet your financial obligations?
- A month or less. (45 percent)
- Less than two weeks. (19 percent)
- Two weeks to a month. (26 percent)
- Two to three months. (20 percent)
- Less than three months. (65 percent)
- More than a year. (12 percent)
7. What does the American dream mean to you? Pick three.
- Financial security. (65 percent)
- Family/children. (58 percent)
- Free from want, my basic needs are met (43 percent)
- Comfortable retirement (36 percent)
- Home ownership (35 percent)
- Successful career. (31 percent)
- Marriage. (29 percent)
