The American Dream has always been pricey, but now the sticker shock is enough to make you choke on that iced coffee you’re drinking.
A new analysis from Investopedia puts the lifetime cost of “making it” in 2025 at $5,043,323. That’s nearly $600,000 more than last year and about 50 percent higher than just two years ago.
That number reflects the price of what most people still see as the milestones of success—owning a home, raising kids, paying for their college, retirement, weddings, vacations, even a couple of pets. “What most Americans deem to be reasonable financial milestones in their lives are becoming increasingly expensive, outpacing inflation, and are seemingly out of reach for many,” Investopedia’s editor-in-chief, Caleb Silver, told the New York Post.
Some expenses are rising faster than others. Retirement now demands an estimated $1.63 million, about $40,000 more than in 2024. Raising two kids and sending them to college will drain about $876,092. Weddings run $38,200, and replacing a car every five years over five decades reaches $900,346—almost $90,000 higher than last year’s total.
Homeownership isn’t offering relief either, with the cost of buying and financing a house rising to $957,594 as mortgage rates and property prices climb higher.
One of the biggest additions this year is healthcare. For the first time, Investopedia factored in lifetime medical costs at $414,208. Add $180,621 in vacations and $39,381 in pet care, and suddenly even your cat feels like a luxury expense.
The real kick in the teeth is that many Americans won’t earn anywhere near $5 million across their entire working lives. “The reality is that most of us won’t earn anywhere close to $5 million over the course of our adult working careers,” Silver admitted. And yet, surveys show optimism hasn’t disappeared, with nearly seven in ten Americans saying they believe they’ll hit those milestones or already have.
Plenty of Americans will keep chasing the Dream, but at over $5 million, it’s starting to look like an investment few can afford to cash in on.
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