A 1,000-person poll conducted by Charles Schwab has found that Americans would need, on average, about $2 million before they could say they felt rich, a princely sum that is nonetheless 23 percent lower than it was six months ago, indicating that the pandemic has made some people reassess the importance of money in their lives, according to Bloomberg. In contrast, the same poll—of people between age 21 and 75—had found that the number had consistently been around $2.4 million through 2017, 2018 and 2019. In January, it had grown to $2.6 million. But then, the pandemic hit.
What's more, other factors besides money have grown more important to people's overall happiness. Since January, the weight millennials place on relationships and health both increased, while the weight of money, life style and career all decreased in the same time period.
Bloomberg noted that a similar thing happened after the 9/11 attacks: A Pew poll found that year that 37 percent wanted to spend more time with family that holiday season and 54 percent of parents said they were making more of an effort to spend time with their kids.