Author: openjargon

• An estimated record 122,000 millionaires moved to new countries in 2023, up 45% from 2022.
• Henley & Partners data shows Australia topped the net inflow of millionaires, outpacing the US.
• China faced the highest net loss of millionaires, followed by India and the UK.

Millionaires are leaving China and the UK, and flocking to Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

That's according to data from Henley & Partners, a firm that advises the wealthy where to move to protect and grow their wealth. The firm says a record number of millionaires moved to a new country in 2023. While the US remains the home to the most HNWIs — high net worth individuals — it is not the country seeing the biggest influx.

Henley & Partners estimated that about 122,000 millionaires migrated to a new country in 2023, either for citizenship or residency. While the US is home to 37% of all people with $1 million in liquid investable assets, Australia topped the list of countries with the highest net inflow of millionaires.

The number of millionaires in 2023 was up 45% from 2022 and is the highest on record since Henley & Partners started tracking the data in 2013.

According to Henley & Partners calculations, based on data from the first six months of 2023, Australia was expected to gain 5,200 more millionaires than they lost from the previous year. That was more than double the US, which grew by 2,100 HNWIs and ranked fourth.

At the other end, China was on pace to lose the most millionaires for the second year in a row, with a net drop of 13,500. That was more than twice as much as the next country, India, which had 6,500 fewer millionaires at the end of the year. The UK was third with a loss of 3,200.

Below is a look at the countries seeing the biggest net inflow of millionaires and why they chose those countries.

1. Australia

2023 estimated net gain of millionaires: 5,200

2022 net gain of millionaires (rank): 3,800 (2)

According to Andrew Amoils of Henley & Partners, Australia attracts most of its new millionaires from Asia, Africa, and the UK.

Amoils explains that many millionaires are likely attracted to Australia because of their immigration laws, which award points to candidates based on age, education, professional experience, and ability to speak English.

"Australia consistently attracts sizable numbers of millionaires every year," Amoils wrote. "These consistently large inflows are possibly linked to Australia's points-based immigration system, which favors wealthy individuals and those with professional qualifications."

He also pointed to other factors such as the weather, low population density, safety, economy, education opportunities, taxes, and a first-class healthcare system.

2. United Arab Emirates

2023 estimated net gain of millionaires: 4,500

2022 net gain of millionaires (rank): 5,200 (1)

According to Henley & Partners, the number of net new millionaires in the UAE has quadrupled from its pre-pandemic levels of about 1,000 annually.

That recent growth also coincides with EXPO 2020, the most recent World Expo, where nations and millions of visitors gathered to look for solutions to issues the world is facing. This event is credited with putting the UAE on the international map.

Amoils described the UAE as the "foremost wealth hub in the Middle East" and credits its attractiveness to factors such as its safe haven status, diverse economy across several key sectors, low taxes, luxury real estate, good schools, and a top healthcare system.

The millionaires moving to the UAE come from many areas, including the UK, Russia, Africa, Asia, and other Middle Eastern countries.

3. Singapore

2023 estimated net gain of millionaires: 3,200

2022 net gain of millionaires (rank): 2,900 (3)

According to Henley & Partners, most millionaires migrating to Singapore come from other Asian countries.

Amoils noted that many tech entrepreneurs are moving to Singapore as it attempts to become the "Silicon Valley of Asia." However, he notes that the country's wealth management status is also attractive.

"Singapore is the top wealth management center in Asia and one of the number one hubs for family offices globally," Amoils wrote. "This is a major drawcard as, over time, often wealthy people gravitate to where their money is held."

4. United States of America

2023 estimated net gain of millionaires: 2,100

2022 net gain of millionaires (rank): 1,500 (5)

According to Henley & Partners, most new millionaires moving to the US come from Asia.

The most common sectors among these HNWIs are entertainment, financial services, and tech. The latter is especially popular as tech start-ups often move to Silicon Valley and other parts of the US to grow their companies.

Investors are attracted to the US because of the US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program which gives immigrants a faster route to acquiring residency in the US if they invest at least $800,000 in a domestic business.

For business owners, there are a few avenues offered to launch a startup or expand an existing company in the US. These either require an investment in the domestic business or proof that it will benefit the public.

5. Switzerland

2023 estimated net gain of millionaires: 1,800

2022 net gain of millionaires (rank): 2,200 (4)

Switzerland still ranks high for millionaires despite scandals associated with the country's banking system and the near collapse of Credit Suisse.

Henley & Partners notes that Switzerland is still attractive because it is safe and provides a good lifestyle for the wealthy. It also still has a strong reputation because of its banking secrecy laws.

Switzerland does not offer citizenship through investment, but it does offer residency. This can be achieved by investing in the Swiss economy, starting a business that benefits the economy, or paying a minimum annual tax of $270,000.

6. Canada

2023 estimated net gain of millionaires: 1,600

2022 net gain of millionaires (rank): 1,200 (7)

Amoils notes that Canada checks off most boxes regarding why millionaires pick a new country, especially those who own businesses. These include a safe and stable environment, lifestyle options, building wealth, diversifying investments, and sustaining the long-term performance of their businesses.

"A strong financial, legal, and regulatory environment — combined with universal healthcare and a world-renowned education system — make the country a particularly desirable place to raise a family and operate a business," Amoils wrote.

• BI talked to seven parents who said they're making sacrifices so their children can eat.
• Some said they can't invest in their kids' college funds or extracurricular activities.
• Many ALICE families face tough financial decisions as costs rise and assistance remains insufficient.

Ryan Arbuckle, 36, makes too much money to be eligible for government aid to support his five children but can barely afford to put food on the table.

Arbuckle dropped out of college, had kids at a young age, and spent years toiling away at a minimum-wage job. Then Covid hit, and he had to declare bankruptcy as he looked for a new job.

After his divorce a few years ago, Arbuckle, who lives near St. Louis, now cares for his kids three to four days a week in between his new IT job that pays $45,000 a year.

While he has just enough to pay for food and shelter, he fears he'll never earn enough to pay for his kids' extracurricular activities. Car payments, cable, insurance, and phone bills eat up $870 a month from the net $3,000 he makes, he said. He buys the cheapest toiletries and groceries he can find, and he can't afford mental health resources.

He wishes he could be a better father to his kids; his father used to take him to baseball games, airshows, and other fun things he can't afford.

Arbuckle is an ALICE: He's asset-limited, income-constrained, but employed. And he's not alone: According to United For ALICE, 29% of Americans fall into the gap between the poverty line and being able to actually thrive. It's worse for parents; 37% of families with kids in the US fall below the ALICE threshold, and more than half of single-parent families do.

"The most obvious thing is children are expensive, hands down," Stephanie Hoopes, national director at United For ALICE, told BI. "It's a group that's got a big challenge."

Per data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve, just 64% of parents living with children under 18 said they were doing OK financially in 2023. This compares to 72% of all respondents — and 75% of nonparents.

Many parents have become wedged in the cracks of the country's safety net and are facing a near-impossible calculus: How can they deliver a stable economic life for their kids when the country's guardrails aren't protecting them?

"You have people like me and thousands of families out there who cannot afford basic necessities and happiness in life. You're not giving us a defined path to go out and achieve our goals as a family," Arbuckle said.

$50,000 for a family of 4 in Georgia

Kristin Musselwhite, 36, and her husband William, 41, raise two boys with special needs in a small Georgia town. For about six months, both of them were out of work.

"We haven't caught up yet, so every paycheck hits, and then it's gone," Kristin said. "If we get groceries or anything not absolutely necessary, it's a good week."

William landed a job in production making $50,000 a year — so much that the family lost food stamps. They have $75 a week for groceries. Due to the cost of childcare, Kristin decided it makes more financial sense to stay home to take care of her kids full-time. Childcare costs remain an immense burden for Americans across the income spectrum, and it's a cost that particularly weighs on ALICE parents.

"It's impossible at times, trying to be an advocate for your child when you don't have the income to be an advocate in the right place," Kristin said, noting she's striving to get enough money for a vacation with her kids.

The Musselwhites are working with their mortgage company to make up missed payments of $1,400 a month and are consolidating debt. They can't fix their truck, which was totaled last December, while also making payments on another car. They can't afford proper mental health and medical treatments, which are few and far between in their rural community.

Retirement has never been a thought; they planning on working until the day of their funerals. Still, Kristin is hopeful that things will improve for her family as her kids grow older and her husband works his way up the ladder.

$40,000 for a family of three in Pennsylvania

Joey Lovello, 42, is also walking a precarious tightrope. He lives with his girlfriend, Beki, and her 10-year-old son in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Finding the money to cover all of their basic needs has been challenging.

Beki and Joey were laid off at the start of the pandemic. They started a cleaning company, work another cleaning job, and drive for Uber Eats, working five or six days a week. But they make just under $40,000 — slightly too much to qualify for assistance.

"I know the world and life doesn't owe anybody anything, but it is hard to keep the splinter of being betrayed or lied to out of one's thoughts when trying just to make ends meet," Joey said. "I'm always asking, 'Where did I go wrong?'"

Since 2020, their rent has skyrocketed to over $2,000, not including fees for late payments. They're constantly under the threat of eviction for missing payments, and they're forced to rotate paying their various bills each month. In the past two years, their car was repossessed twice, their electricity shut off, and Beki limited her asthma medication due to the cost.

"We live in constant fear, in a carousel of doom and anxiety. Checking the mail each day garners more stress than a person should be under every single day," Joey said. "The strain we live under has been visibly eroding our physical and mental health. A worry-free, good night's sleep is a thing of the past."

$130,000 for a family of 7 in Illinois

Even parents at the upper bound of the ALICE threshold are just scraping by.

April Schultz, 40, and her husband Kevin, 45, earn a gross combined income of $130,000 — slightly above the ALICE threshold — but can't afford to spend $200 a week on groceries for their family of seven. They work two jobs each in addition to caring for their five kids, but they're breaking even at the end of every month.

"We shouldn't have to have four jobs in one family," April said. "I feel like that's crazy when, in 2017, we had one income and we were doing just fine."

Stuck in a 'hellish loop'

ALICE parents often decide between what they can and can't go without. John S., a 49-year-old parent of two, said his family struggles to make ends meet on his $70,000-a-year salary. He sometimes goes to food banks and said there's nowhere they can cut the fat to reel in their budget. Sometimes, he said, he and his wife don't eat as much so their kids can have enough to eat — a fact they conceal from their children.

At the same time, though, they're ineligible for most public assistance.

"To be honest, if we have a dollar to our name at the end of the month, we're both happy," John said.

Even when ALICE parents can obtain assistance, it's often not enough to account for the realities they face.

Katelynn W., 29, said she is the primary support for herself and her two children with disabilities, working overtime as a general production associate.

She makes about $45,600 annually and qualified for Medicaid and food stamps, which cover about 1.5 weeks of dinners per month. But based on annual income limits, she fears she'll no longer be eligible for assistance in the coming months.

The Dover, Delaware, resident said she frequently struggles to balance her income with expenses. She often sacrifices or cuts back on things, sets up payment arrangements for bills, and makes late payments. She, her partner, and his mother have been homeless since January and have lived in hotel rooms and their vehicles — her largest expenses.

"I often feel extremely frustrated, stressed and very hopeless, like I'm working life away to not move any closer to financial stability," Katelynn said. "It feels overly difficult to constantly afford basic things like housing, transportation, food for the month, and personal hygiene. It also feels impossible to ever be a homeowner, obtain higher education, or have any financial cushion."

To afford a two-to-three-bedroom rental in her area, she'd need a deposit between $5,400 and $7,400 — the equivalent of saving every penny of her income for two months. She sacrifices meals, clean laundry, and personal hygiene so that her kids can feel as safe and happy as possible.

"My inability to afford necessities on my income alone is absolutely not due to any kind of laziness or unwillingness to work," she said.

Many ALICEs find themselves in a neverending cycle, even as parents aspire for more for both themselves and their kids.

"Are we all stuck in a hellish Sisyphean loop of debt and repayment?" Joey Lovello said. "Having to decide whether to keep the lights on, getting four badly needed tires for a rolling death trap, or getting a migraine-inducing broken molar fixed?"

Do you live above the federal poverty line but struggle to afford daily expenses? Are you open to sharing your story? If so, reach out to these reporters at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com and jkaplan@businessinsider.com.

• A new community of net-zero homes in Florida is being marketed as nearly disaster-proof.
• The homes at Hunters Point, which start at $1.4 million, have already withstood two hurricanes.
• "We built these homes to be able to deal with the climate crisis," said developer Marshall Gobuty.

Florida faces a crisis of rising insurance costs in the face of increasing extreme weather. Already, major insurers have pulled out of the state and Floridians have been hit with skyrocketing home-insurance bills.

One solution, said real-estate developer Marshall Gobuty, is to build more resilient homes.

"People say they build to code, and my answer is 'Great,'" he told Business Insider. "Building over code and doing things that haven't been done — that's something to be proud of."

Enter Hunters Point. An 86-unit community in Cortez, Florida, a hour south of Tampa, created by Gobuty's company, Pearl Homes. Residents first moved into the net-zero single-family homes in 2022, and they have withstood two hurricanes so far while also producing more energy than they consume.

Recently, the carrier Hunters Point used for builders insurance said they weren't writing any new policies, but Gobuty and his team were able to find coverage by showing details of the homes' construction— like ground-floor flood vents that drain water and full-home metal strappings that tie the property together as one unit — that Gobuty believes made them change their mind.

"They're covering us because the way we built our homes," he told BI.

That's significant as major insurers have recently fled Florida over the increased risk. Since 2022, a dozen insurance companies have claimed insolvency, stopped issuing new policies, or withdrawn from the state entirely. The state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is now the top underwriter as private companies leave.

Take a look at the ground-breaking Hunters Point development.

The Hunters Point community sits on a bay separated from the Gulf of Mexico by a barrier island.

Cortez, Florida — where the Hunters Point development is located — is known for its white-sand beaches and historic fishing villages.

A tiny town of over 4,000 residents, Cortez is an hour south of Tampa, near Bradenton Beach, a popular vacation destination.

Hunters Point developer Marshall Gobuty challenged his team to build homes that were both net-zero and LEED-certified.

In the past, residential homes have been left behind in the push to build LEED-certified, sustainable developments, Gobuty explained.

"There's a lot of museums and commercial buildings, but residential is really like a step-sister. It's not been traditionally dominant for LEED," he told Business Insider.

LEED is a certification developed by the nonprofit US Green Building Council that verifies a building's sustainable design and efficient energy use, according to the Green Building Council. Net-zero means the the amount of energy a building consumes is equal to the amount of energy it produces through renewable means, according the federal government.

Gobuty's team built the first prototype home in a warehouse.

The team observed the prototype over 18 months in conditions that recreated the changing seasons before starting construction in the real world.

Gobuty was able to develop homes that actually produce more energy than they consume.

Gobuty decided he wanted the homes to use a mix of solar and battery energy, choosing the German startup sonnenBatterie to provide the units to power the homes.

"We're generating 35% more power than we modeled and we're consuming 25% less," Gobuty said.

Better insulation also helps the homes conserve energy.

Gobuty explained his team used 2×6 insulation boards for the Hunters Point homes instead of the typical 2×4.

"It creates resiliency, strength, and as well keeps this envelope tight," he said.

In fact, when Hunters Point conducted industry-standard "blower door" tests, a diagnostic tool to see how much air escapes the home, they tested tighter than the established rating system, Gobuty said.

Gobuty's team also added double the amount of fill underneath the homes.

Withstanding major storms was the project's intention from the very beginning, so the homes on Hunters Point start at 16 feet above sea level.

"We built these homes to be able to deal with the climate crisis," Gobuty told Insider.

The first real tests for Hunters Point's homes came in 2022 and 2023.

In 2022, when only three homes were completed, Hurricane Ian struck Florida. A year later, Hurricane Idalia affected more than 20 Hunters Point homes.

"We had a king-size surge that completely covered the docks," Gobuty recalled.

But the homes withstood storms, both labeled category 5 and category 4, respectively.

"We woke up the next morning just like normal," Hunters Point resident William Fulford told the Wall Street Journal in late 2023 about living there during a storm. "It's a damn strong house."

There's no typical profile for Hunters Point residents, Gobuty said.

"There are young families that have bought in that are very sustainability and resiliency-centric, and they love it," Gobuty said. "Then we've got some retirees that just love the fact that they don't have utility bills."

That's right, Hunters Point residents don't pay electric bills.

Gobuty explained that every homeowner has a battery specific to their home.

If their home is able to generate $150 worth of power and their utility bill comes in at $150, the state-run Florida Power and Light company issues them a credit that wipes away the cost.

"We haven't had a power bill yet," Fulford, the resident, told the Washington Post earlier this year.

Hunters Point homes currently cost between $1.2 and $1.8 million.

Each lot is 3,300 square feet, and each single-family home has an interior space of about 1,650 square feet, according to Fox Business. Some have three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and one half-bathroom, and HOA fees are $450 a month, according to a Zillow listing. The ground floor of the three-story units has a garage with two spaces, per the listing.

Gobuty hopes the development sets a new, cutting-edge standard for sustainable development for Florida.

Hurricane Ian alone destroyed nearly 5,000 homes in Florida in 2022, according to NPR.

Gobuty believes the solution to preventing that from ever happening again starts with intentional design and construction.

"You have to do better you can just do to build the code," Gobuty told BI. "There are responsibilities that you have to have now as home builders."

• My partner and I negotiated a lower rent in a very tight market.
• Despite only a handful of homes available in our area, we'll save $1,200 this year.
• Here's how we did it.

According to Zillow, as I write this, there are only 7 properties available for rent under $4,000 a month in my city, a small beach town outside Santa Barbara, California.

So when my partner suggested we ask our landlords to lower our rent — which we had already successfully done when we first moved in last year — I thought it'd be an exercise in futility.

Conventional wisdom says you're more likely to be able to negotiate lower rent if there are plenty of local vacancies or when your rental is going for an above-market rate. That wasn't the case for us.

But we asked anyway, and, to my surprise, we'll be saving an extra $1,200 this year.

Here's what I wrote to get the negotiation going:

We have loved living here over the last year and are beginning to put down roots in [our city] and the surrounding area. The unit has been wonderful, and it has easily begun to feel like home. We've been happy to take care of minor repairs on our own, to promptly notify the mangagement company for maintenance requests like leaks, and our payment history is (and will continue to be) flawless. As rental unit owners ourselves, we know how challenging it an be to find reliable tenants who will care for your property the way you would yourself. We know that good tenants make it easier to sleep peacefully, reduce long-term costs in repairs, and diminish the need for management expenses. We'd like to continue being those renants for you, and respectfully request that you consider a renewable 6-month lease term at the current rate of $3,550 per month, or a 1-year lease term at a rate of $3,450.

The property management company representing the owners of our 2-bedroom, 3-bathroom unit came back offering a $50 a month discount for a 1-year lease term, or $100 off each month if we signed a 2-year lease, which we were happy to do.

Remember your value as a good tenant

My partner and I own small condo units elsewhere in the state, which we rented out when we moved to our city for his new job. We have each had tenants across the spectrum of model leaseholders to downright abusive renters.

Based on what we learned when we moved in, our landlords had a similar experience with a difficult tenant just before us. The tenant caused extensive damage to the unit and might have been renting it illegally through Airbnb. We're a quiet couple who keeps our home clean and in good repair, and we always pay on time, so we leveraged those facts in our negotiation.

Be creative with your asks — and flexible with your expectations

Part of our initial ask included a variation on the lease term (6 months instead of a year), showing our landlords we were open to options other than a standard 1-year lease. We also included the rate we would ultimately be more comfortable paying as an option rather than trying to lowball the owners of our unit by asking for a significant cut or vastly undervaluing the unit.

They returned with a more agreeable rate either way and were open to our preferred amount if we were willing to sign a longer lease. While we didn't initially think about a 2-year lease, which puts pressure on both of us concerning job stability, the consequences for breaking a 2-year lease are the same as breaking a 1-year term, so why not go for the savings?

Get used to asking for what you want

We never would have gotten anywhere had I let my feelings of discomfort get in the way of our negotiating. To me, negotiating feels unnatural and, to some extent, even entitled, especially when it comes to big commitments like rent, where (to me) it feels like the landlord is doing us a favor by extending the lease so we don't have to deal with the stress of finding a new place that'll accept our two dogs or, god forbid, moving.

For our landlord, negotiating is just business. Remembering that will serve me well, and maybe it will serve you well, too.

• Donna Kopman was laid off from her job as a sales operations manager in December.
• After having only two interviews from 400 applications, she's relying on benefits and savings.
• Kopman said she felt some employers were being ageist when assessing her application.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Donna Kopman, from Portland, Oregon, about her experience getting laid off at 57 and her job search. Business Insider has verified her previous salary. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I managed a sales support team of 15 employees for a software company, Milestone Systems, for three years.

The company told people managers there were going to be layoffs in November. I found out on my birthday. I spent my Thanksgiving holiday worried about being laid off. I had a gut feeling it was going to be me. When I got back, I found out it was.

I didn't have any hard feelings, but it sucked.

Job searching is a full-time role

My first thought was that finding another job at this age and stage in my career would be difficult. The older you are when you get laid off, the harder it is to find an equivalent position.

I took a break to clear my head and started my job search in January. I updated my résumé and looked on LinkedIn, Indeed, and job posting apps. From Sunday to Tuesday and a bit of time on Wednesday, I spend eight hours a day researching and applying for jobs. I treat it like a day job. Then, I take a few days off, which keeps me healthy.

I'm applying to jobs around Portland, where I live, and some remote jobs, too.

I've found a few jobs that are very similar to the one I had. Half a dozen times, I spent two hours tailoring my résumé to a job, showing how my qualifications directly matched the role and then got back an auto-generated rejection response within the day.

It's frustrating. Some days, I've felt a little defeated. But I have to remind myself it's not a human at the other end of the line. It's probably AI.

I've applied for 400 jobs and landed 2 interviews

Since January, I've applied for around 400 roles. It's a numbers game.

I've broadened my search to include some junior roles, such as executive assistant jobs. Part of that is a choice: I'm not sure I want to manage people again. The other part is simply to get a job that gives me a paycheck.

I've had two interviews with hiring managers. It feels like an employer's market in the US. For every job I apply for, there seem to be hundreds of other applicants. When I was a hiring manager in my previous role, we'd be lucky to get 20 applications.

I don't think employers have time to screen all those applicants, so they're relying on AI. I understand why they have to automate the process, but it removes human beings from it.

Employers can be ageist

Employers might look at an older person and think they'll require a higher salary because they have more experience. They might automatically screen older people out for that if they have to balance their budget.

But many older people would be willing to get paid less to stay in the job market.

Hiring managers might also assume that older people are stuck in their ways and can't learn new technology. But it's a misconception. I take pride in challenging myself to learn new things to stay relevant.

More junior employees might also have doubts about hiring someone more qualified than them if they feel insecure in their careers. They might worry that an older person will replace them. I try to balance that in interviews and not come off too strong.

Ageism is everywhere in US work culture, but people don't seem to want to acknowledge it. How do we change that? Having a diverse team creates a better work culture.

I'm willing to be paid less

In my previous role, my salary was $110,000 a year, including bonuses. I've been applying for jobs for as little as $60,000 a year.

It's a balancing act. I'm willing to accept that to stay in the workforce, especially given healthcare is tied to employment. I'm paying $900 a month for COBRA right now to maintain the same health policy I had before.

I'm getting unemployment benefits, but they don't cover my expenses, so I'm having to draw from my savings. I hope I get a job before I no longer get the benefits.

Since being laid off, I don't go out to eat as much. I'd love to take advantage of having the time off to go on vacation, but I have to watch my expenses and don't know how long I'll be unemployed. It's a strange limbo.

Being unemployed delays my retirement

I was hoping to retire in my early to mid-60s. But I won't qualify for full Social Security payments until I'm 67. That's 10 years I need to bridge, and if I wanted to retire earlier, I'd have to find a way to build my finances.

We need to do more to keep older people in the workforce. People are drawing down from their 401(k) out of necessity, and that's scary.

Taking longer to find a job or accepting a lower-paid job might delay my retirement. I hope I don't have to do that.

But I remain hopeful. I know I've got a lot of value to add to employers, and I know I will land somewhere that is good for me.

Not many of Jess Munday's San Francisco friends live alone. But Munday, a 29-year-old who works in tech marketing, was able to swing it.

It took living with her parents for a few months during the pandemic, during which time she saved some money. Then, she struck in January 2021 when, according to Zillow, rent prices in the city were the lowest they've been in the past five years.

She pays about $2,600 for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood and makes $175,000 annually. It's a deal compared with the median rent of about $2,900 for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco.

"I even know people who are a lot older than me who are living with roommates in San Francisco," Munday said. "I'm thankfully in a financial situation where I don't have to do that."

The 30-something American dream used to look a little like this: You're married, you have two or three kids, and you own your starter house (white picket fence optional).

But things have shifted. Millennials are getting married later, if at all. They're having kids later, if at all. And forget owning a sprawling suburban home.

That's helping establish a new millennial milestone for some: Ditching roommates, moving out from the family home, and landing on living alone.

Going solo as a younger worker has become increasingly popular in the past few decades, though it's still relatively uncommon in the US. Census data indicates that in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under 3% of Americans between 18 and 34 lived alone; by 2023, that number had tripled. Business Insider's analysis of American Community Survey microdata from IPUMS found that 10.5% of millennials lived alone in 2022.

Bella DePaulo, a social scientist who studies single people and who wrote the book "Single at Heart," said the rise in solo living could be a result of Americans delaying marriage.

"Marriage is no longer the marker of adulthood that it once was. Now younger people are more likely to feel like they're an adult if they've had other accomplishments, and sometimes living alone is one of them," DePaulo said. "Living alone can mean that you can afford to do so, and that's something to feel proud of."

For this article, Business Insider spoke to nine millennials who live alone. While their situations vary, they all said that living alone is very much a sacrifice — but one worth making.

In doing so, they outlined the promises and pitfalls of hitting this new millennial milestone.

Munday acknowledged that if she lost her job, she'd most likely have to move back home or get roommates, but for now, it's worth the risk.

"I personally like living alone. I can control the space, how I decorate," Munday said. "I do enjoy having space and being able to clean or leave it messy depending on my mood."

The singles tax

Aria Velasquez, 32, lives alone in her one-bedroom apartment in Chicago, paying about $1,500 in rent and service fees. She was laid off from her journalism job earlier this year.

She said the biggest challenge is taking on the financial burden alone. Her partnered friends, on the other hand, get a break.

"Now that we're in our early to mid-30s, a lot of people are getting married or partnering up so they're moving in with their partners even if they're not married," Velasquez said. "They will cite living with someone to split the bills with as a benefit of moving in with someone."

Zillow recently estimated that people living alone in one-bedroom rentals spent over $7,000 more annually on housing costs than people living with others — a difference often described as the singles tax.

Velasquez said that she loves living alone and that it has always been her goal. She values privacy and quiet and loves coming home to nothing but the "hum of the fridge." At the same time, she acknowledged that the cost of many items, including groceries, had risen, adding that there's "no discount for single-person shopping."

"You buy a loaf of bread, but you may not eat the entire loaf in a short period of time because maybe you don't want a sandwich every day," Velasquez said.

Though she's able to rent on her own, buying her own place feels like a distant dream: "I view it the same way people think about winning the lottery."

More millennials living with Mom and Dad

Erica Charles, 28, a publicist in Washington, DC, said that while she and many of her peers live alone, others had moved back in with family in recent years. She said she's considered it as well.

"I could save $700 a month," Charles said, adding that it could go toward saving for her graduate school tuition. "I'm thinking about how I can scale back a lot. I'm thinking about jobs that pay more and how to bring in more money through freelancing."

Rick Fry, a senior researcher at Pew, said the share of 18- to 34-year-olds living in their families' homes has been slowly rising since 1971 "and particularly kind of picked up during the Great Recession," per Pew's research. As of 2023, he said, it was about 32%.

"If you look at the metro areas that have the highest median rents, those are the metro areas where you see the young adults most likely to be living with Mom and/or Dad," Fry said. Per BI's analysis of American Community Survey data via IPUMS, 16% of millennials lived with at least one parent as of 2022. (The data doesn't specify if that means they're living with their parents or if their parents are living with them.)

Charles said that before the pandemic, she liked living alone. "I thought it was a rite of passage into young adulthood," she said.

This year, Charles has been rethinking her living situation. Her lease is ending in June. She says she's been laid off three times since 2020. Because of finances, she's put plans to pursue a Ph.D. in media communications on hold, and she's not planning to have children anytime soon. She'd also like to buy a house in the next three years. Housing prices in Florida, where she's from, have increased significantly over the past five years.

She's thought about whether she wants to move in with her family or with a roommate. She's been cutting back on spending and has been doing more budgeting. She's even taken on part-time food-delivery and freelancing gigs.

"It's really a privilege to live alone," Charles said. "Now it's become a luxury."

Subsidized solo living

Some lower-earning millennials are able to get assistance reaching the solo-living milestone — but it's not always easy.

Garak Clibborn, 39, a veteran in California, has been homeless before. He's also cycled through at least eight roommates while renting a room in a house and applying for housing assistance so he could live on his own. After waiting nearly a year, his name was called for a housing voucher, he said — and he was told he had 60 days to find a place before it expired.

Many apartments had yearslong waitlists, and others wouldn't accept vouchers, which is government rental assistance. After calling over 350 places, he finally found a spot. He's been living alone there since 2012. His rent just went up, to over $1,900. With his subsidy, he pays about $380 a month; he uses the money from his VA pension to help cover the cost.

"Even with a subsidy, it's extraordinarily difficult" to live alone, Clibborn said. He added that he still has to cover many other expenses on his own.

"If I run out of money, I'm screwed. I don't have anything to help me," he said.

Way behind in homeownership

Chaz Zimmer, a 28-year-old who sells cars at a Subaru dealership, has lived alone in his apartment in Waverly, New York, since February 2021. He pays $550 a month in rent. He tried to purchase a home last year, but interest rates made it expensive. He'd eventually like to move to a bigger place, but his rent is so cheap that it's hard to justify moving, he said.

An analysis of American Community Survey data published last year found that non-college-educated millennials were half as likely to own homes at 30 as non-college-educated baby boomers were at that age. It also found that 38% of college-educated millennials owned homes at 30, less than the 54% of college-educated boomers who owned a home at that age.

Tomasz Piskorski, a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School, said it's become more difficult to buy a home because of the increases in home prices and interest rates after 2022.

"For the millennial generation, it could take years to catch up in homeownership," Piskorski said.

Zimmer hasn't given up hope. "Some of it comes down to opportunity and timing," Zimmer said. He works on commission, so his salary has ranged from $62,000 to $79,000 in the last couple of years. He said he's "fortunate to have a pretty good job that makes a decent enough salary."

Rent versus a mortgage

James Paniagua, 30, lives in Oakland, California. Throughout college, he lived at home and stayed there until right before the pandemic. He briefly lived in Los Angeles with a roommate, but the pandemic sent him back home.

"I have essentially been living at home for the majority of my twenties," he said. Last year, he decided to move up north for work and was lucky enough to find his own place in Oakland. Before making that move, a few financial pieces had to fall into place: He had to fix his credit score, and he needed to find a job that paid him enough to move out.

Today, he makes around $125,000; his 700-square-foot apartment with a parking spot costs him around $2,100 in monthly rent.

"Starting to pay rent was the biggest adjustment, which is obviously a huge payment adjustment, but I took the time to plan out that as much as possible and shift some things around to be able to live alone, but still live the lifestyle that I had had before," he said.

He's stopped making weekly mall trips and eats at home more regularly now. He said he likes to stay at home and wants to make his space as cozy as possible.

While he said he's getting a good deal for what he has, some older adults can't believe how much he's paying for rent, "they're shook."

"It's more than some of my relative's mortgages," Paniagua said.

The experience of living alone has evolved

For those who are able to buy, snagging a solo property is a pivotal life event, and may provide comfort amid the uncertainty of other traditional milestones.

After attending graduate school in London, Julia Mazur, now 30, moved back home with her parents for two years. She worked a tech job that paid a six-figure salary and offered a generous equity package, she said. At age 25, she saved up enough to buy her own condo in Los Angeles.

During the pandemic, she refinanced her mortgage and got a lower rate; she said her monthly costs totaled about $3,000. Now she's swapping homes with a couple in Austin who have a similarly priced mortgage.

For her, living alone is empowering. She said she thinks some millennials are finding their person and settling down while others, including her, are finding fulfillment in different aspects of their lives.

"For me, I like the ability to move around and to travel, to get to experience what living on my own is like and the responsibilities that come with it. I feel very fulfilled by that," she said. "And I also think that with living alone, there does come a need to connect with humans in real life. And so I kind of make myself go and do things to try and connect with people, go to tennis classes, go sit up alone at bars, go to meetups and friend dates."

DePaulo said the experience of living alone has changed significantly in the past few years. She's found that people living alone are more likely to be connected to more diverse people — and more people overall — and engage more with civic life and community institutions.

Living alone is worth it for many, despite the challenges.

Kathy Pierre, 31, pays $1,280 a month in base rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Charlotte, North Carolina. When she moved to Charlotte, she didn't know anyone there and didn't want to take risks with living with a stranger after past experiences with roommates. "I needed to make myself afford it," she said.

At the same time, she says if she lived with family or a roommate, she'd be able to save money and get closer to buying a home. All the bills, including food, utilities, and rent, are her own when living alone. What's more, it can be easy not to talk to another human in person while working from home.

"It's just very lovely to be able to live on my own and have my own space," Pierre said. "I don't have to negotiate with other people about what happens here. I think that is really awesome. I say jokingly, but not jokingly, I would move out of Charlotte before I look for a roommate."

• Bill Gates said he learned an important scheduling lesson from fellow billionaire Warren Buffett.
• The Microsoft founder used to schedule his day down to the minute.
• But Buffett's intentionally light calendar helped him ditch the overbooked schedule. 

Microsoft founder Bill Gates says you should stop overbooking your calendar.

The billionaire shared a scheduling tip in a Friday Threads post, citing fellow billionaire Warren Buffett.

"It took far too long for me to realize that you don't have to fill every second of your schedule to be successful," Gates wrote. "(In hindsight, it's a lesson I could have learned a lot sooner had I taken more peeks at Warren Buffett's intentionally light calendar.)"

While at Microsoft, Gates was known for his meticulous schedules, literally planning his day down to the minute — an approach Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also been said to take.

Last year, Gates admitted that he previously thought sleep was "lazy" and competed with his colleagues to see who could get the least rest.

"I thought that was the only way you could do things," Gates said of his packed schedule in a 2017 interview alongside Buffett.

Gates said things changed for him when he saw Buffett's intentionally sparse calendar.

"You control your time," Gates said. "It's not a proxy of your seriousness that you fill every minute in your schedule."

Buffett, who is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has long been a champion of increasing productivity by decreasing busy work — an approach supported by science.

People who have the freedom to focus their time on creative work as opposed to performative busywork are happier, more productive, and more engaged at work, Business Insider previously reported. 

After seeing Buffett's schedule, Gates relaxed his own calendar. In 2020, BI documented a day in the life of the Microsoft billionaire, which included ample amounts of time for playing tennis, reading, blogging, and spending time with his family.

• Signal's CEO criticized OpenAI's handling of the Scarlett Johansson controversy in a TechCrunch interview.
• Meredith Whittaker said OpenAI's leadership is pulling "disrespectful" and "unnecessary" "Edge Lord bullshit."
• Johansson accused OpenAI of stealing her voice for its "Sky" assistant, which OpenAI denies.

Meredith Whittaker isn't holding back against OpenAI.

Signal's CEO has weighed in on the OpenAI-Scarlett Johansson controversy, accusing the buzzy AI company of having a "dorm room" culture.

In an interview with TechCrunch published on Friday, Whittaker was asked what she thought about allegations that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asked Scarlett Johansson to provide her voice for the company's AI assistant and then, after Johansson declined, released a voice for their product that sounded similar to the actor.

"It's just like … 'Edge Lord' bullshit. It's so disrespectful. It's so unnecessary," Whittaker told TechCrunch.

She continued: "And it really tears the veil on this mythology that you're all serious people at the apex of science building the next Godhead, when it's very clear that the culture is dorm room high-jinks egged-on by a bunch of 'Yes men' who think every joke you say is funny, because they're paid to do that, and no one around there is taking this leadership by the shoulders and saying 'What the fuck are you doing!?'" 

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on Whittaker's interview.

Earlier in the week, Whittaker took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice her opinions on the topic.

In response to an account reposting Johansson's statement accusing OpenAI of ripping off her voice, Whittaker wrote on Tuesday, "The edge lord disrespect, unprofessionalism, strategic blundering typical of actual decision making in the AI industry speaks infinitely louder than all the voluntary safety pledges ever could."

"In fact," Whittaker continued, "Those pledges serve mainly to highlight how far the walk is from the talk."

OpenAI unveiled the "Sky" artificial intelligence voice option last week alongside an announcement about the company's new GPT-4o large language model. People immediately began noting the voice's similarity to Johansson's, particularly her performance in the 2013 film "Her," where the actor played an AI assistant that the main character falls in love with.

On Monday, Johansson released a statement alleging that Altman had previously approached her about voicing Sky, which she declined.

Altman has said in a blog post that OpenAI did not intend for Sky's voice to resemble Johansson's, and that the voice belongs to a different actress the company hired. But Altman had posted a single-word statement on X after the product's launch: "her."

The company has paused using the Sky voice in its products, OpenAI said.