Media to get you thinking…

Here are some easy-to-view videos that highlight the financial difficulties of modern day America.

Retirement

Retirement is the final chapter of the American Dream. Every year, Americans spend over 2,000 hours working and saving to prepare for the ‘golden years’ of their lives. But that dream is quickly turning into a fairy tale.

Will your IRA or 401K accounts ensure a safe retirement? FRONTLINE investigates the big business of retirement, raising troubling questions about how America's financial institutions protect our savings. (Aired 2013)

Explore how our financial and lifestyle choices today will affect our quality of life in retirement. Using case studies, engaging animations, and lively expert interviews, "When I'm 65" looks at how aspirations and financial planning for retirement have changed. Original airdate 1/25/16

The baby boomer generation will be long on life expectancy but short on income. Amid vanishing pensions and faltering 401(k) plans, FRONTLINE investigates how middle-class Americans might fare in their retirement years. (Aired 2006)

Inflation in the United States hit a record high in June 2022. Consumer prices soared by 9.1% compared to a year prior - the largest annual increase since 1981. While wages are rising, they’re not keeping up with inflation. Corporations are raising salaries and offering other perks to retain employees, but they’re not necessarily factoring in cost of living, as that’s not typically how compensation determination works.

Hard Earned is a documentary series that puts aside economic debates and follows five families around the country to find out what it takes to get by on $8, $10 or $15 an hour. The series turns an intimate lens on this group of 21st century American dreamers as they fight against all odds to thrive when it takes everything they have to simply survive. Characters represent geographically and ethnically diverse multigenerational Americans.

The middle class was once a symbol of the American dream. It meant financial security and an opportunity for a better future. But that portrait of the American middle class is quite different today. A survey in 2018 found that a third of middle-income adults don’t have as much as $400 to cover an unexpected expense. And while the middle-class lifestyle grows more expensive and uncertain, it’s also moving beyond the reach of younger generations.

Americans are more worried than ever about money and the economy. In a survey by the American Psychological Association, 87% of Americans said inflation and the rising costs of everyday expenses were causing them stress. Roughly two out of every five U.S. adults said money is negatively impacting their mental health, according to Bankrate. Watch the video above to learn what’s causing this anxiety around money and how Americans can deal with their stress.

On August 24, President Biden announced the cancellation of $10,000 in federal student loan debt for most borrowers. But student loan accounts for less than 10% of household debt in America, which reached $16.15 trillion during the second quarter of 2022. And debt is likely to grow even further due to soaring inflation. 43% of Americans are expected to add even more debt within the next six months. So why are so many Americans in debt today and what impact does it have on the U.S. economy?

Raising children is expensive in the United States, and families are feeling the pressure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a report using 2015 data that estimated child-rearing expenses from birth through age 17 in a two-child, middle-income, married-couple family is $233,610. With inflation, that number translates to almost $286,000 in 2022. According to economists, the current policies in place meant to help families are not doing enough.