MoneywiseSun, Jul 6, 2025, 11:15 AM 6 min readIn This Article:FabrikaPhoto/EnvatoMoneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.The term ‘“middle class” is often discussed but rarely defined. It’s a term the majority of Americans would use to define themselves, yet most people don’t know whether their household truly fits into this category.Based on the Pew Research Center’s analysis of government data, roughly 49% of Americans don’t actually fall into the middle class income category.Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's howI'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 4 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast)No millions? No problem. With as little as $10, here’s how you can access this $1B private real estate fund of diversified assets usually only available to major playersHere’s a closer look at why that is.Pew Research Center defines the middle class as a household with income that is at least two-thirds of the U.S. median income to double the median income. This would imply a range of incomes from $56,600 to $169,800, based on government data for 2022.As of 2023, 51% of American households fit into this category.Invest in GoldBut, most Americans might not be aware that this cohort of middle-income earners is getting squeezed. Roughly 61% of households across the country were part of this group in 1971 — a full 10 percentage points higher than the recent 51% rate.This trend may be a reflection of growing income inequality across the country. And many families feel like they’re on the brink of falling into a lower category.A recent survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) found that 53% of U.S. adults feel like they can’t make financial progress and 48% say they are “constantly treading water financially.”If you and your family are middle-income and worried about falling behind, there are ways to cement your position.Reducing debt, especially consumer debt, could be a great way to secure yourself financially. In 2024, there were 494,201 personal bankruptcy filings in the U.S. — over 60,000 more than the previous year, according to Debt.org.Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do itIf you and your family are in the middle-income category and worried about falling behind, there are ways to cement your position.Terms and Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore InfoS&P 5006,225.25 -54.10 (-0.86%)Dow 3044,344.41 -484.12 (-1.08%)Nasdaq20,412.36 -188.74 (-0.92%)Russell 20002,216.17 -32.87 (-1.46%)VIX18.04 +0.56 (+3.20%)Gold3,341.80 -1.10 (-0.03%)PortfolioSign in to access your portfolioSign inTop gainersENVX Enovix Corporation 13.25 +1.86 (+16.33%)WNS WNS (Holdings) Limited 74.77 +9.39 (+14.35%)BILI Bilibili Inc. 22.55 +1.67 (+7.97%)RKLB Rocket Lab Corporation 38.40 +2.74 (+7.68%)SAND Sandstorm Gold Ltd. 10.34 +0.70 (+7.32%)Top losersBMNR Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc. 111.20 -23.80 (-17.66%)CORZ Core Scientific, Inc. 14.86 -3.14 (-17.44%)APGE Apogee Therapeutics, Inc. 39.89 -7.58 (-15.96%)ATS ATS Corporation 29.67 -2.82 (-8.68%)CLSK CleanSpark, Inc. 11.23 -1.02 (-8.37%)Most activeLCID Lucid Group, Inc. 2.0948 -0.0652 (-3.02%)TSLA Tesla, Inc. 293.43 -21.92 (-6.95%)NVDA NVIDIA Corporation 158.44 -0.90 (-0.56%)CORZ Core Scientific, Inc. 14.86 -3.14 (-17.44%)SOFI SoFi Technologies, Inc. 19.03 +0.46 (+2.49%)Earnings eventsTrending tickersTSLA Tesla, Inc. 293.56 -21.79 (-6.91%)WOLF Wolfspeed, Inc. 2.5891 +1.4091 (+119.42%)PLTR Palantir Technologies Inc. 138.83 +4.47 (+3.33%)SOFI SoFi Technologies, Inc. 19.04 +0.47 (+2.53%)CORZ Core Scientific, Inc. 14.83 -3.18 (-17.63%)Top economic eventsPowered by Money.com - Yahoo may earn commission from the links above.