Investors Scale Down Vision of American Dream

A level playing field and secure retirement define the American Dream for nearly two-thirds of investors surveyed by Spectrem Group in January, while hope for future generations appears to be fading in a post-recession vision of America.

Nearly 64 percent of investors participating in our monthly survey define the American Dream as “an equal opportunity for all people” and “having sufficient retirement assets.”

Educational opportunities, owning a home and job security trailed significantly behind retirement and fairness, and were identified as facets of the American Dream by 56 percent, 54 percent and 51 percent of survey participants, respectively. The chance for future generations to “do better than the current generation” defines the American Dream for less than half the participants, suggesting Americans have scaled down their expectations for economic advancement in the prolonged economic downturn.

Eighty-four percent of respondents said that the American Dream has become harder to attain than it has been in the past and an equal share predict that future generations will have to struggle to attain the dream. This is up from a 2011 Millionaire Corner survey in which 79 percent of participants predicted the next generation would fail to surpass their own.

Women are significantly more likely to rate job security, educational opportunities and homeownership as components of the American Dream, while men are slightly more optimistic about the outlook for future generations.

Millionaire investors attach significantly less significance to owning a home or having job security as touchstones of the American Dream, while investors age 60 and older value educational opportunities more highly than their younger peers.