While there are plenty of factors that make up the picture of financial success, the one that has emerged from a recent survey may surprise people: a comfortable retirement.

According to the results of a telephone survey conducted for the American Institute of CPAs by Harris Poll, a comfortable retirement was cited by more than twice as many people (28 percent) as the symbols perhaps most often thought of as indicators of having “made it” financially in America: owning one’s own home (just 11 percent said that was their definition) or having become financially better off than one’s parents (also only 11 percent citing that as their symbol of success).

The next closest answer, after retirement, was being able to give the kids a debt-free ride through college (23 percent).