Meet the HENRYS: The Six-Figure Earners Who Don’t Feel Rich

Fifteen years ago if you’d told April Little that she’d make $300,000 a year, she would have pictured a life free of financial stress.

“The white picket fence—I have the whole visual in my head,” says Little, 38 years old, a human-resources executive turned career coach in Rochester, N.Y. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but when I got to that proverbial mountaintop I realised there’s a lot of expenses. And I still don’t own a home.”

So go the plush-but-not-too-plush lives of the Americans who qualify as HENRY—high earner, not rich yet.

Little makes multiple six figures running her own business but carries $90,000 of college and grad-school debt. Child care and education for her three children would be so costly that she and her husband decided the better option was for him to leave his radio job to parent and home-school full time.

New census data show 14.4% of U.S. households bring in $200,000 or more a year, a near record. Yet the money doesn’t have the buying power those earners wish it did, partly due to the rising prices hammering us all and partly due to the supercharged costs of things like houses and cars. HENRYs describe feeling stuck on a hamster wheel—a nice one that other hamsters envy—but running in place nonetheless.

Oh come on, you’re thinking . You’re asking me to feel sympathy for Audi-driving, Chase Sapphire-loving, Whole Foods-shopping consultant types with kids in private school?

Well…not exactly. But what they’re feeling is a version of what a lot of Americans at every income level face—making more money but not feeling like there’s a surplus. The essence of being a HENRY is feeling a gap between what you have and what you think you need to be comfortable.

What these high earners consider essentials might be termed luxuries (or nonsense) by the rest of us, but it’s also true that it takes more money to feel rich these days. And their great fear is becoming a HENRE: high earner, not rich ever .

Short of expectations

Attorney Joshua Siegel doesn’t expect sympathy as he motors around Los Angeles in his Lexus SUV. He just figured at age 40, having risen to partner and chair of the transactional tax group at Albrecht Law, that he might be driving from a house he owns to a country club where he’s a member.

Instead, his occasional golf outings take him from his rental home to a public course. Raising three kids in one of the country’s most expensive cities has been a reality check, he says. He’s also realised that a lot of people with jobs like his come from wealthy families where trust funds and down-payment assistance give them financial head starts.

The son of an electrician and a dental assistant, Siegel is making his own way in the white-collar world.

“It really just feels like treading water,” he says.

Monique So, a 40-year-old financial consultant, says she and her husband, a software engineer, have a net worth in the mid-seven figures. But she likely won’t breathe easy until, or if, they accumulate an eight-figure net worth. Daycare for their 2-year-old takes a $30,000 bite out of their family budget.

“I have this scarcity mindset that is very common,” she says.

What it takes to feel rich

Caitlin Frederick, director of financial planning at Ullmann Wealth Partners in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., says many of her mid career clients are less affluent than their salaries suggest. She advises a lot of prototypical millennials who racked up student loans in hopes of vaulting into high-paying jobs. They delayed buying houses and starting families while climbing professional ladders.

The first part of their plans worked, she says. The degrees led to hefty incomes. Now that they’re having kids, shopping for real estate and wishing to upgrade their Camrys, they’re discovering that many of life’s major expenses shot up faster than the overall rate of inflation.

Lifestyle creep is a factor too, she says, noting clients who overspend on trips and restaurants.

“It is easy for people to just continue to increase their lifestyle every time they get a promotion,” Frederick says.

Then again, they watched their slightly older co-workers spend freely, and buy lake houses, too. The good life requires more money than it used to, she adds.

In 2009, the median home price was $220,900, according to the Federal Reserve, and a new car cost an average of $23,276, according to the Energy Department. Had prices increased at the rate of the consumer-price index, the average house would cost $322,000 today and a car would cost $34,000. Instead, the Fed reports an average house goes for $412,000 today, and a typical new car is $48,000, according to Kelley Blue Book.

The national going rate for a babysitter 15 years ago was $10.50 an hour, according to Care.com. Now it’s $18.38, 20% more than if the cost had tracked the consumer-price index.

Budget-conscious HENRYs tell me it’s often hard to find mid tier options in, well, anything, as companies push luxury versions of everything from high-end water bottles to $1,000-a-night hotel rooms .

Another big-ticket item

Another financial curveball comes up frequently in my conversations with high earners: school costs.

Nearly half of American private schools increased enrolment in the last academic year, according to the Cato Institute. Parents who originally planned to send their children to public school tell me they’ve gone private for reasons that include pandemic learning disruptions, public schools’ difficulty retaining good teachers and budget problems . Some say they’re convinced private schools are the only places their kids will thrive, though more than 80% of American kids attend public school.

Brad Gyger and his wife shuttle their three children around in a 2014 GMC Yukon with 130,000 miles—not exactly the late-model, luxury ride he expected to own as a three-time chief revenue officer in the tech sector. Then again, he didn’t anticipate annual private-school tuition payments roughly equivalent to the price of a new, fully loaded Cadillac Escalade.

Gyger, now an independent sales consultant in California, says he didn’t consider private education until a few years ago, when he and his wife concluded their oldest child would thrive in a more academically challenging environment. The school could also accommodate their second child’s learning needs. And how could they leave out the youngest?

Gyger, 46, says his family is fortunate to even have education options. The trade-off is living more modestly than his résumé might suggest.

He gave up gym and tennis-club memberships, opting to stay fit on the cheap by cycling and lifting dumbbells in his garage. And forget about upgrading from the home the couple bought in 2015.

“We’re probably never moving,” says Gyger. He hopes they’ll remodel the kitchen. Someday.

Reporting season has once again reminded investors that a strong profit does not guarantee a rising share price, and a large loss does not always trigger a sell-off. What matters most is how each result compares with expectations and, increasingly, what management says about the year ahead. During the August 2026 season, companies offering credible turnarounds or unexpectedly strong guidance were rewarded handsomely, while those flagging weaker margins, slowing demand or greater uncertainty were punished.

The following ranking draws on Morningstar’s review of 164 ASX-listed companies and measures each company’s share-price movement on the day it reported. This captures the market’s immediate response to the earnings announcement, before subsequent economic developments, dividends and company-specific news cloud the picture. Here are the five biggest winners, and the five hardest-hit losers, of the season so far.

The five winners

1. Bapcor (ASX:BAP): +41.0%

Bapcor delivered reporting season’s largest relief rally after presenting early evidence that its troubled automotive-parts business was stabilising. Although underlying revenue fell 1.8% to $1.92 billion and underlying NPAT collapsed 85% to $10.8 million, underlying EBITDA of $152.5 million exceeded guidance.

More importantly, working-capital initiatives released $68.5 million in the second half, lifting cash conversion to 109.4% and reducing net debt by 63% to $135 million. The statutory loss was $431.6 million, largely because of non-cash impairments. Investors focused on improving operational momentum, stronger liquidity and management’s expectation of modest FY27 revenue growth.

2. Zip Co (ASX:ZIP): +18.2%

Zip comfortably surpassed its FY26 targets, sending the buy-now-pay-later provider’s shares sharply higher. Transaction volume rose 23% to $16.7 billion, while cash earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 58% to a record $268.9 million. Statutory profit climbed 46% to $116.4 million, and the cash operating margin expanded by 4.2 percentage points to 20%.

The strongest signal was guidance for FY27 cash earnings of $340 million—around 26% growth and above analysts’ forecasts. US transaction volume increased 42.5% and now represents three-quarters of group volume, offsetting weaker customer activity in Australia.

3. CSL (ASX:CSL): +17.3%

CSL’s result was hardly spectacular in isolation, but it cleared a market bar that had fallen dramatically following earlier downgrades and restructuring announcements. Underlying NPATA was US$3.1 billion, down 2% in constant-currency terms, while operating cash flow reached US$3.51 billion.

CSL maintained its full-year dividend at US$2.92 per share and completed a A$1 billion buyback. The real catalyst was FY27 guidance for approximately 5% underlying profit growth, compared with market expectations closer to 2%. After an extended period of earnings disappointments, investors interpreted the outlook as evidence that CSL’s core plasma business was approaching a sustainable recovery.

4. Judo Capital (ASX:JDO): +16.9%

Judo Capital demonstrated strong operating leverage as its specialist business-lending franchise expanded. Full-year profit before tax rose 34% to $168.1 million, while pre-provision profit increased 42%. Gross loans and advances grew 18% to $14.7 billion, reaching the top of the bank’s guidance range and comfortably exceeding broader system growth.

Deposits increased 24% to $12.2 billion, return on equity improved by 1.1 percentage points to 6.4%, and earnings per share rose 29% to 9.9 cents. Reaffirmation of the FY27 outlook gave investors confidence that loan growth could continue without sacrificing margins or credit quality.

5. Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL): +15.8%

The owner of Supercheap Auto, rebel, BCF and Macpac reported record sales of $4.2 billion, up 3.2%, despite cautious discretionary spending. Profitability went backwards: normalised profit before tax fell 7% to $306 million and normalised NPAT declined 2.8% to $226 million as transformation spending weighed on margins. Nevertheless, the result exceeded subdued expectations, online sales grew 5.3% and membership across the group’s loyalty programs reached 13.1 million. Investors were also encouraged by positive early FY27 trading, stable gross margins and continued market-share gains. A fully franked 33-cent final dividend added to the appeal.

The five losers

1. Hansen Technologies (ASX:HSN): –21.2%

Hansen’s historic result met expectations, but investors recoiled from its outlook. The utility and communications software provider achieved an underlying EBITDA margin of 31%, exceeding its 30% target, while generating strong cash flow. However, management designated FY27 an “investment and transition year”, signalling a roughly five-percentage-point margin contraction as spending on products, sales capabilities and organisational changes increased.

Revenue had already been broadly flat, leaving investors concerned that the investment program would depress earnings before new growth appeared. Leadership changes, including the chief executive’s departure, added uncertainty. Management expects revenue growth and margins above 30% to return in FY28, but the market was unwilling to wait.

2. Life360 (ASX:360): –19.4%

Life360’s headline growth was impressive: quarterly revenue rose 38% to US$159 million, subscription revenue increased 31%, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 53% to US$31.1 million. Monthly active users reached 102.4 million and paying circles grew 27% to 3.2 million. The sell-off reflected expectations rather than a collapsing business.

Net income fell 18%, the net margin contracted from 6% to 3%, hardware shipments dropped 18%, and full-year EBITDA guidance was merely maintained. After a strong valuation run, investors wanted a larger upgrade and clearer evidence that heavy investment in advertising, international expansion and artificial intelligence would generate additional earnings.

3. PEXA Group (ASX:PXA): –17.0%

PEXA reported a 7% increase in continuing-operations revenue and 12% EBITDA growth to $152 million, accompanied by a two-percentage-point margin expansion. Free cash flow increased 39%, suggesting the core Australian electronic-conveyancing platform remained highly profitable. Investors instead concentrated on management’s warning that property-transfer volumes could decline, alongside regulatory uncertainty surrounding the fees PEXA can charge.

The company is also continuing to invest heavily in its loss-making international expansion. Morningstar considered the market reaction excessive, arguing that structural transfer-volume assumptions had not materially changed, but the combination of softer near-term activity and regulatory risk overwhelmed the respectable headline numbers.

4. SEEK (ASX:SEK): –14.3%

SEEK produced solid FY26 figures, including 10% revenue growth to $1.20 billion, a 15% rise in EBITDA and 28% growth in adjusted earnings per share. It also lifted its fully franked annual dividend by 13% to a record 52 cents. Those achievements were overshadowed by falling paid job-ad volumes and cautious FY27 assumptions.

The statutory accounts included a $201 million loss from the SEEK Growth Fund and $377 million of significant items, making the headline result considerably less attractive. Investors were particularly concerned that economic weakness could limit volumes while the company continued investing in platform integration and artificial-intelligence products.

5. JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH): –12.3%

JB Hi-Fi’s full-year result was broadly respectable, with group sales rising 5% to $11.1 billion and underlying earnings per share increasing 6% to $4.48. The damage came from its current-trading update. Australian sales were almost flat during the June quarter and deteriorated further in July, while earnings in the core Australian electronics business fell 3.6%.

Housing-related categories were particularly weak as higher living costs and interest rates constrained household budgets. With JB Hi-Fi entering the season on a demanding valuation, an in-line historic result was not sufficient: the loss of sales momentum prompted investors to rapidly reduce their expectations for FY27.

Overall, the season showed that share prices react less to whether profits rose or fell than to the gap between results and expectations. Bapcor was rewarded for being less troubled than feared, while several fundamentally profitable companies were punished because their outlooks failed to justify elevated valuations.