There’s nothing more precious than time and Americans know it. To find out how valuable it is, financial planning firm Empower surveyed 2,204 U.S. adults about how much they think an hour of their time is worth.
On average, Americans feel their time is valued at $240 an hour. If they made that much for a standard 40-hour work week, it comes out to $499,200 a year. That’s almost eight times higher than the average U.S. salary of $59,384.
- Different generations value their time differently, millennials value theirs the highest at an average of $328.84 an hour. But a quarter of them place the value of an hour at $500 or more.
- Gen Z says an hour of their time is worth $266.92.
- Gen X values their time at $215.90 an hour.
- And baby boomers feel an hour of their time is worth $137.19.
Since time is so precious:
- A quarter (26%) of Americans would be willing to take a 15% pay cut to have more free time. Millennials were the most willing to do so (41%).
- Just over a third (36%) of all respondents would rather pay more to have something delivered than drive 10 minutes to go get it.
- Over two in five feel outsourcing household chores improves work-life balance.
- A third of Gen Z would pay as much as $5-thousand a year to save time by not having to do chores like cleaning and yard work, while 36% of millennials would spend up to $10-thousand to have someone else do the cooking and cleaning.
- Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans feel “wealthy” if they have enough time to spend with loved ones.
- Another 29% feel comfortable taking on debt if it buys them more free time or a memorable experience.
- For 37%, saving time is more important than saving money, and that number goes up to 52% for millennials.
Source: USA Today