Two-thirds of Americans would rather work a job they love with a lower-paying salary than work a job they hate with a higher-paying salary. Further, 72% say they would rather define success based on a “soft-life culture” – happiness, contentment and fulfillment – than a “hustle culture” focused on wealth, status and achievement.

Money can’t buy happiness, the KeyBank 2024 Financial Mobility Survey finds. The report shows that Americans are spending more, saving less and prioritizing personal happiness over status and achievement as they prepare for anticipated economic hardships.

The survey polled more than 1,000 Americans on their financial, life and work-related priorities and outlook after a year of market volatility and uncertainty. Unfortunately, 60% of Americans believe the country will soon be in a recession and are preparing for future financial hardships.

“I’d rather have a job that is tedious and know that my bills are paid,” says Tiffany McCauley, Slappy Toad. “In this economy, having the bills paid is a big deal. Sign me up for that any day.”

Nearly one-third (30%) of survey respondents say they feel daily financial stress related to the cost of living in America, and more than half (59%) are cutting back on nonessential items due to the increasing cost of living.

“We all want to feel fulfilled, and our survey shows that Americans are prioritizing their happiness and personal life over money – but facing inflation, societal shifts, and economic uncertainty, many remain concerned about their financial futures,” says Daniel Brown, EVP and director, Consumer Product Management at KeyBank.

“As the everyday cost of living increases, many of us will have to make critical lifestyle and financial decisions in the year ahead for not only ourselves, but also our households – balancing our lives outside of work with our financial needs and habits for the long term.”

Importance of work-life balance

When KeyBank asked respondents what “Thriving in America” means to them, 42% chose work-life balance.

Other highlights from the KeyBank 2024 Financial Mobility Survey include:

• Work-life balance is increasingly important. Continuing a trend seen year over year, more Americans say they value work-life balance (63%) over a high-paying salary (27%), compared to 57% and 33% respectively in 2022.Half (51%) of Americans pulled more money from their savings this year than before.

• More than three in four (77%) of respondents across all generations believe the cost of living in America has gotten worse, with boomers leading that feeling (92%).

• Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely to anticipate a recession in 2024. Of respondents that expect to be in a recession in the next 12 months, more than half (57%) are millennials or Gen X.

• Women (35%) are more likely than men (24%) to feel financial stress related to the cost of living in the United States on a daily basis.

• Americans do make financial changes to achieve the dream of homeownership. Of those who are in the market for a home, the top step taken to save money for a home is to put away money in a dedicated savings account (43%).

• About 29% of Americans do not own a home and do not plan on purchasing one in the next 12 months. Of those respondents, only 1 in 10 indicate that home ownership is very attainable.

US cities ‘impossibly unaffordable’

The Demographia International Housing Affordability report has been tracking house prices for 20 years. Their latest edition, released in June finds home prices driven up by investor driven buying, efforts to limit urban sprawl and the demand for houses with significant outside space.

The report specifically targets the most “impossibly unaffordable cities” in the world, using a price-to-income ratio of the median house price divided by the gross median household income.

Joel Kotkin, director, Center for Demographics and Policy at Chapman University comments: “High housing prices, relative to incomes, are having a distinctly feudalizing impact on our home state of California, where the primary victims are young people, minorities and immigrants.”

Out of the top 10 impossibly unaffordable cities, 5 are in the United States and all of them are in California or Hawaii. The top five impossibly unaffordable cities in the U.S. are: San Jose, Los Angeles, Honolulu, San Francisco and San Diego.

Would You Rather?

The KeyBank 2024 Financial Mobility Survey also asked 1,000 Americans “would you rather” questions about their spending and savings habits, levels of financial confidence and resilience, and impacts of societal trends and pressures on their purchases over the last year.

• 84% of Americans would rather receive the home of their dreams than have their student loan debt erased tomorrow.

• Most Americans (60%) would prefer to spend a few hours balancing their checkbooks than be without their devices for a full day.

• 79% of Americans would rather show their credit score to friends and family than have a bad experience on a first date.

• Americans are more reluctant to reveal what exactly they’re spending on, more prone to share what they’ve Googled recently (57%) than their monthly credit card statement (43%).

This article was produced by Media Decision and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.