 Money News at 10 and 40 past the hour on WTLP. Here's Mark Hamrick. What's the magic number for income? I'm Mark Hamrick with the Bankrate.com Personal Finance Minute. A new survey from Bankrate finds that on average, Americans believe they would need to earn $186,000 a year to feel financially secure or comfortable. That's more than two times what the average full-time year-round worker made recently, according to the U.S. government.