Is 2026 the Year?

Well that is the question — but depending on where you are in life has different meaning to many folks.

I spoke with a client recently who will be 102 in June, and just the other day I spoke with one of our newest insured, spun off her parents' policy, and she is 22 — just starting out on her own in life.

I am certain these two insured have entirely different priorities and needs in their life.

What is super interesting is looking at where things were and what may be needed in the future.

The one fought in WWII, so when he returned after the war he looked forward to settling down, finding work, maybe a wife, and starting his life — he would have been about 22 as well.

Only then in 1945, the average wage was $2,390.00 per year, and a new home cost on average $4,625.00. In the same year average rent was $60 a month, going to the movies was 50 cents, and a gallon of gas — if you were fortunate enough to own a car — was 15 cents a gallon. (source: Remember When, Seek Publishing)

Groceries would set you back 62 cents for a gallon of milk, eggs were 22 cents per dozen, a loaf of bread was 9 cents, and ground coffee was 50 cents per pound — all from the same source.

What Does That Same Starting Line Look Like Today?

The same 22-year-old today is looking for a home, a job, shopping for groceries — at what costs?

Average home price in February 2025 in WA was $658,700 according to BankRate. The same source had Hawaii at the highest at $975,500, while the lowest states were Ohio at $248,600 and Oklahoma at $245,900.

Average real median household income in WA (source: US Census Bureau via FRED, September 2025) was $97,500 annually.

Now we all witnessed eggs at $6.00 a dozen or more in the fall of 2025, but bread was only $2.50 a loaf on average, with eggs dropping now to more reasonable pricing. A gallon of gas, according to the Bureau of Transportation in September 2025, was $3.17 — up 1.1% from the month before but overall down 1.5% from August 2024.

The Other Side of the Coin

Now you might be saying, well the young lady has to pay five times as much as the average income to buy a home in WA now compared to 1945. While true, what I see is that the poor couple who paid off their home years ago — a home that may have been purchased between 1945 and 1970 — now have property taxes annually that are the same or more than the original purchase price of their home: $4,500 in 1945.

I saw an independent politician announcing the other day that the average senior is living on less than $15,000 annually and that 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. I listened and thought — well, seniors the longer they live past 65, the harder it has been to keep up. Many WWII vets retired in the 1980s, assuming one worked 40 years. Although many of the eldest seniors retired with a pension based on age and service, most of the retiring seniors now are not as fortunate to have such a tool in retirement.

The Answer — and the American Dream

So what is the answer? Call Wayne Reed, my life and investment specialist, who can help a 22-year-old set up a plan that may keep him or her in step with the type of inflation the centenarian has witnessed through the last 15 presidencies — starting with our 32nd, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, through our 45th, Donald J. Trump.

The income levels earned today have grown leaps and bounds over the inflation rate for that entire time, 1945–2026. That $2,300 a year in 1945, using the inflation calculator from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), would need to be $42,026 today to have kept pace. If the average Washington household now makes $97,000, the American Dream is still alive and ahead of inflation — even though you may have thought differently.

Job wages have stayed well in front of the inflation rate, and even minimum wage in our state — close to $41,520 annually — is almost equal to the $42,026 you would need to have kept pace.

Shocking, I know.

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Ready to make 2026 the year you get your financial and insurance plan in order? Call our office at 360-746-7785 and ask for Dennis or Wayne.