Think a high salary is a ticket out of living paycheck to paycheck? Think again.

Roughly 4 in 10 workers earning above $300,000 say they're doing just that, according to  Goldman Sachs Asset Management's 2026 retirement report.

"One of the more remarkable findings is whether or not financial security improves linearly with income," Chris Ceder, a senior retirement strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told Yahoo Finance.

You'd think financial security would improve as someone makes more money, with income tracking in a straight path with each extra dollar of earnings. 

"It does for a while, but it's a U-shape pattern," Ceder said. 

Those making between $100,000 and $300,000 aren't so stretched, according to the findings, but the number who say they are living paycheck to paycheck shoots back up among those earning above $300,000 annually.

"We can see a similar pattern as it relates to delaying financial goals, delaying retirement savings, and also paying the minimum of their credit card balances," Ceder added.

For example, the survey found that the people making only minimum credit card payments or less are clustered at the lowest and highest income brackets.

About 4 in 10 workers making under $100,000 are skating by on the minimum credit card payment. That drops to 35% for those in the $100,000 to $300,000 income bracket and pops up again to 42% for those who earn above that threshold. 

Nearly half of those bringing in a half-million dollars made minimum payments this year, up from 39% last year. 

"Obviously, there's a big difference between what it means to have an income of $50,000 and below versus $300,000-plus, but in terms of how it is manifesting in … financial strain, there certainly are some parallels," Ceder said.

Less surprisingly, a substantial number of Americans who make below $100,000 also report living paycheck to paycheck.

They struggle to save at all or make any progress toward long-term goals, Ceder said.

Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including "Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future," "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work," and "Never Too Old to Get Rich." Follow her on Bluesky and X.

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