Today’s American middle class lifestyle

America is built around and for the middle class, although this point also can be argued upon, including by me. However, the middle class in one way or another is the backbone of the American society and small entrepreneurship is a driving force of American economy.

However, the gap between the wealthiest Americans and middle- and working-class Americans has more than tripled in the past three decades, according to a June 25 2007 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and it can cause long-term damage to the middle class and even to the whole American society structure.

Report from September of 2010 shows the problem is continuing to rise. “The top-earning 20 percent of Americans -- those making more than $100,000 each year -- received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4 percent earned by those below the poverty line, according to newly released census figures. That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from 13.6 in 2008 and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968.

A different measure, the international Gini index, found U.S. income inequality at its highest level since the Census Bureau began tracking household income in 1967. The U.S. also has the greatest disparity among Western industrialized nations.

"Income inequality is rising, and if we took into account tax data, it would be even more," said Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who specializes in poverty. "More than other countries, we have a very unequal income distribution where compensation goes to the top in a winner-takes-all economy."

Among the 2009 findings:

--The poorest poor are at record highs. The share of Americans below half the poverty line -- $10,977 for a family of four -- rose from 5.7 percent in 2008 to 6.3 percent. It was the highest level since the government began tracking that group in 1975.

--The poverty gap between young and old has doubled since 2000, due partly to the strength of Social Security in helping buoy Americans 65 and over. Child poverty is now 21 percent compared with 9 percent for older Americans. Every fifth child in the United States lives in poverty!!! Am I only the one who wants to scream my lungs out about that??!! Is that the American way??? Is that the society we want to live in and leave to next generations??? Just for the information, in 2000, when child poverty was at 16 percent, elderly poverty stood at 10 percent, although in my mind even those numbers should not be a norm in any part of the world.

November 24th, 2006 “USA Today” published an article with the title “Wealth gap swallows up American dream”. This article is written about real estate and homeownership situation in the US not long before the crisis broke and hurt many people, especially in the middle class. Author of course couldn’t know for sure what was coming next, years of deep recession, countless foreclosures and even more shrinking middle class. But the article was spot on the current at the time issues, so it is interesting to remind ourselves what was happening then.

I will quote a couple of interesting points from it. “Elsewhere across the USA, the megarich are still snapping up homes in such enclaves as Vail, Colo., and Beverly Hills, and often paying cash. Sales of homes above $5 million are up 11% this year and are on track to break another record, according to an analysis by DataQuick Information Systems for USA TODAY. As for the national average, by contrast, sales are off about 8%. Prices fell in September for a second-consecutive month, partly because they'd soared beyond the reach of many.

“There's the rich, and then there's everything else, in terms of the economy but also in terms of social class," says Edward Wolff, a New York University professor and expert on the wealth gap. He likens it to the social divisions of the 1890s, adding: "If you don't counteract the extreme inequality trends, I see some social upheaval coming. That's my worst fear."

Homeownership is the No. 1 source of wealth-building for middle and lower classes, and the housing boom made millions of homeowners "house rich." But over the past five years, once you account for inflation, incomes for these groups are actually down. Many low- and moderate-income families are spending home equity just to maintain their lifestyles.

Nationwide, nearly 90% of homeowners who refinanced homes from July through September took cash out of their property — the highest level in 16 years, according to Freddie Mac.

And while rising home prices mean rising wealth, they also mean larger mortgages. For the middle class, the ratio of debt to net worth has nearly doubled since 2001 and is now in dangerous territory.

The number of homeowners who spend 30% or more of their income on housing has jumped to 35%, up from 27% in 2000, leaving little or nothing left to save. By contrast, incomes for the rich are rising, protecting them from the downsides of real estate cycles.”

(http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/housing/2006-11-24-luxury-homes-usat_x.htm)

Remember the Financial Wealth Distribution diagram on page 21? 42 percent of financial wealth is controlled by the top 1 percent. Even worse, I will add a bit more statistics here, according to the Wall St. Journal, a 2008 study of wealth in the United States found that the richest .01% (that's one-hundredth of one percent, or 14,000 American families) possess 22.2% of the nation's wealth. Bottom 80% which includes middle class owns only 7% of financial wealth.

“The Growing Gap between Rich and Poor in "Classless" America” article published on October 3rd, 2010 in England at “The Market Oracle” gives some outlook at today’s American situation from – more or less – neutral, not from the US, side.

“A recent report by Ray B. Williams points out that "The U.S. Census Bureau and the World Wealth Report 2010 both report increases for the top 5% of households even during the current recession. Based on Internal Revenue Service figures, the richest 1% have tripled their cut of America's income pie in one generation. In 1980 the richest 1% of America took 1 of every 15 income dollars. Now they take 3 of every 15 income dollars.... Income inequality has been rising since the late 1970s, and now rests at a level not seen since the Gilded Age (1870 to 1900), a period in U.S. history defined by the contrast between the excesses of the super-rich and the squalor of the poor."

According to Paul Buchheit of DePaul University, "In 1965, the average salary for a CEO of a major U.S. company was 25 times the salary of the average worker. Today, the average CEO's pay is more than 250 times the average worker's." The New York Times reported March 31, 2010, that "Top hedge fund managers rode the 2009 stock market rally to record gains, with the highest-paid 25 earning a collective $25.3 billion, according to the survey, beating the old 2007 high by a wide margin." The annual GDP of nearly 90 UN member nations is lower than what these people took home last year. The highest paid manager on the list was David Tepper of Appaloosa Management, who made $4 billion last year."

Throughout their lives, average Americans are taught by their school, church and corporate mass media that theirs is a classless society, and that the notion of classes, class struggle or class war is just left wing propaganda.

Differences in income are acknowledged — but it is claimed that since upward mobility and attainment of the American Dream are available to everyone if they work hard enough, there is only one class despite gradations in wealth. It's called the middle class, presumably with statistical subsections for the very rich and very poor. But the "Dream" and upward mobility have never been available to everyone, and over the last three decades have been substantially reduced for many new generations of working families.

How often do you hear the politicians of the two ruling parties or the government they administer referring to the working class, lower middle class, the lower class or the upper class and the ruling class?

In America, virtually everyone seems to be lumped into the middle class if they are earning between $25,000 and $250,000 a year, which is a preposterous parody of real class relations. Representatives of these two income variants have little to nothing in common except the class to which they appear to have been assigned.”

(http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article23189.html)

I apologize if I let me journalistic side come out a bit too much. But I do think all of that information is important to understand the current situation in the United States and the current position of the middle class in it.

I will bring here one more article to your attention. I think an important work done by Timothy Noah for online magazine “Slate” (www.slate.com) called “The Great Divergence”.

“Income inequality in the United States has not worsened steadily since 1915. It dropped a bit in the late teens, then started climbing again in the 1920s, reaching its peak just before the 1929 crash. The trend then reversed itself. Incomes started to become more equal in the 1930s and then became dramatically more equal in the 1940s. Income distribution remained roughly stable through the postwar economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s. Economic historians Claudia Goldin and Robert Margo have termed this midcentury era the "Great Compression." The deep nostalgia for that period felt by the World War II generation—the era of Life magazine and the bowling league—reflects something more than mere sentimentality. Assuming you were white, not of draft age, and Christian, there probably was no better time to belong to America's middle class.

The Great Compression ended in the 1970s. Wages stagnated, inflation raged, and by the decade's end, income inequality had started to rise. Income inequality grew through the 1980s, slackened briefly at the end of the 1990s, and then resumed with a vengeance in the aughts. In his 2007 book “The Conscience of a Liberal”, the Nobel laureate, Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman labeled the post-1979 epoch the "Great Divergence."

…During the late 1980s and the late 1990s, the United States experienced two unprecedentedly long periods of sustained economic growth—the "seven fat years" and the " long boom." Yet from 1980 to 2005, more than 80 percent of total increase in Americans' income went to the top 1 percent. Economic growth was more sluggish in the aughts, but the decade saw productivity increase by about 20 percent. Yet virtually none of the increase translated into wage growth at middle and lower incomes, an outcome that left many economists scratching their heads.

Why don't Americans pay more attention to growing income disparity? One reason may be our enduring belief in social mobility. Economic inequality is less troubling if you live in a country where any child, no matter how humble his or her origins, can grow up to be president. In a survey of 27 nations conducted from 1998 to 2001, the country where the highest proportion agreed with the statement "people are rewarded for intelligence and skill" was, of course, the United States. (69 percent). But when it comes to real as opposed to imagined social mobility, surveys find less in the United States than in much of (what we consider) the class-bound Old World. France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Spain—not to mention some newer nations like Canada and Australia—are all places where your chances of rising from the bottom are better than they are in the land of Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick.

…Income inequality is a topic of huge importance to American society and therefore a subject of large and growing interest to a host of economists, political scientists, and other wonky types.

…Even Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Board chairman and onetime Ayn Rand acolyte, has registered concern. "This is not the type of thing which a democratic society—a capitalist democratic society—can really accept without addressing," Greenspan said in 2005. Greenspan's Republican-appointed successor, Ben Bernanke, has also fretted about income inequality.

Yet few of these experts have much idea how to reverse the trend. That's because almost no one can agree about what's causing it.

… The Great Divergence may represent the most significant change in American society in your lifetime—and it's not a change for the better.”

Timothy Noah’s report consists of forty pages of interesting and valuable information, research and thinking. He goes deeply into the reasons why and how the income inequality has grown in last decades and also why it is a very important issue for America that we can’t ignore. I can’t oversell the value of his research. Although I do not necessarily agree with all his opinions and findings, I am advising everyone to read full version of the report to get more information. You can find it at http://www.slate.com/id/2266025/entry/2266026 or at http://img.slate.com/media/3/100914_NoahT_GreatDivergence.pdf as PDF file.

So what is American middle class today and what future awaits it in the near future?

Let’s look at a few characteristics that define the middle class:


               


The biggest issue – as it is seen from the table – definitely is debt. After that go higher income, increased savings and more time off. If you take only lifestyle in consideration, then Americans live pretty well, and definitely better than people in many other countries in the world.

The homeownership rate in the United States in 2009 remained similar to that in other post-industrial nations with 67.4% of all occupied housing units being occupied by the unit's owner.

(SOURCE: US Census Bureau, 2009)

In the United States, there are more vehicles than people with driver’s licenses. Americans own remarkable 246 million vehicles, somewhere around 17% more than people with driver’s licenses. AAA estimates that it costs $8,000 per year for each car owned, which creates a financial burden on cash-strapped Americans.

In 2009 Americans scrap 14 million cars while only buying 10.5 million new ones. The 2009 drop was the only large decline in the past 50 years shows the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Americans commute and spend for gas freely without even counting how much, buy big screen TVs for each room, have lunches and dinners out on a consistent basis and shop for everything in anything possible, from children’s toys to kitchenware to the last novice item on a night shopping network. Especially it was true before the recession started in 2007.

And all of that would be good it if it would be achieved the right way, without the need to put immense burden of unsustainable debt. As I mentioned previously, there is smart debt which in many cases not only necessary, but purely good business decision, however, in the other cases taking debt is not only not smart, but plain… unreasonable.

Today the American middle class has a lot of challenges on its way, and, in my opinion, the level of financial education of the middle class itself will define how well it will be prepared to overcome any obstacles and keep America as the greatest country and itself as its most important asset.

Facebook phenomenon

Mark Zuckerberg has changed the world - through his creation of social medium Facebook - at least once already.  He opened doors to people communication in the world wider than it was at any point before.  We had internet, email, chat rooms and MySpace before him, but the level of sharing our life stories with the rest of the world has never been that transparent and commonly used.

Facebook IPO (initial public offering) could become another game changer.  Seems like quite a few people have decided to open accounts and buy Facebook stock.  Could Facebook open the door to the investing world for average people as well?  Maybe so.  The problem is that Facebook IPO price was kind of high, at $38 per share valuing the company at $104 billion (evaluations around $20-25 seemed more reasonable).

(image belongs to FoxBusiness).

Facebook's (FB) first day as a publicly traded company started with a bang and ended in a whimper. FB shares opened on the Nasdaq at 11:30am et, after a 30-minute delay, at $42 each; 11% higher from the IPO price of $38. Within 10 minutes, that gain was cut in half and the stock hovered around $40 for most of its shortened trading day, before officially closing at $38.23.

In a week since then it only got worse. Today, on Monday, May 21st, shares fell off 11% to just $34.03. It probably will continue to decline. Yes, Facebook priced the stock extremely well to raise as much capital as possible setting records for trade volumes. However, for the average investor especially who just made a decision to play stock market game, this adventure could be a big turn-off from investing altogether. People who - especially in this tough economy - put their faith in the biggest IPO of this decade and put their savings (even if a part of it) into the stock that's losing its value within first week of being traded, may end up regretting their decision if not already, and that's not an encouraging trend.

Seems like even the $38 price was not easy for underwriters to maintain.  Company filings after the market closed on Friday night however revealed the extent to which the banks who led Facebook’s initial public offering – in which $16bn of shares were sold to new investors – were forced to move in to the market and buy shares in order to keep the price above the $38 level. Morgan Stanley, Facebook’s lead financial adviser, ended the day with 162m shares, worth $6.16bn. Other banks including JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs also bought shares, ending the day with $3.2bn and $2.4bn holdings respectively.

Today is a different story and $4 loss on the share.  My hope is that the newly found investors will not be discouraged by the losses they may experience this time around, but rather will get inspired to learn and research the stock market better before investing.  Hype alone is not good enough indicator to make money in anything.
 

American Dream

In my opinion the American dream has changed through the years, and it has changed a few times as a matter of a fact. At early years of American republic the American dream was closely connected to the adventurous spirit, willingness to explore new lands to the west and often ability to fight for what is discovered.

That adventurous spirit took even more adventurous meaning in gold rush years in California where no laws were established, and the state itself was in transition between being a part of Mexico and becoming a state of the United States.

In the 19th century the most articulate immigrants to the United States were the well-educated refugees who fled the failed revolution in Germany in 1848. They often compared the two countries, laying great stress on the political freedoms in the New World, and the lack of a hierarchical or aristocratic society that determined the ceiling for individual aspirations. One of them explained:

”The German emigrant comes into a country free from the despotism, privileged orders and monopolies, intolerable taxes, and constraints in matters of belief and conscience. Everyone can travel and settle wherever he pleases. No passport is demanded, no police mingles in his affairs or hinders his movements....Fidelity and merit are the only sources of honor here. The rich stand on the same footing as the poor; the scholar is not a mug above the most humble mechanics; no German ought to be ashamed to pursue any occupation....[In America] wealth and possession of real estate confer not the least political right on its owner above what the poorest citizen has. Nor are there nobility, privileged orders, or standing armies to weaken the physical and moral power of the people, nor are there swarms of public functionaries to devour in idleness credit for. Above all, there are no princes and corrupt courts representing the so-called divine 'right of birth.' In such a country the talents, energy and perseverance of a person...have far greater opportunity to display than in monarchies."

Just from this testimony you can tell how much has changed since then, which of course is expected just because over a century has passed.

The term “American Dream” itself was established, however, only in 1931. Historian James Truslow Adams popularized it in his book Epic of America: “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, also too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

Interestingly, at the same time when James Adams has wrote his book, there were people who saw the situation in America a lot differently. Since the 1920s, numerous authors, such as Sinclair Lewis in his 1922 novel Babbitt, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his 1925 classic, The Great Gatsby, satirized or ridiculed materialism in the chase for the American dream. Within 'The Great Gatsby', Gatsby - the character representative of the American dream was killed, symbolizing the pessimistic belief that the American dream is dead.

In 1949 Arthur Miller wrote the play "Death of a Salesman" in which the American Dream is a fruitless pursuit. 20th century stand-up comedian, actor and author George Carlin famously wrote the joke "it's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." Carlin pointed to "the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions" as having a greater influence than an individual's choice.

While most people account something more than just material belongings into the American dream, there is no question that materialism is a big part of it. Home ownership is one of the most motivating parts of that materialism. And of course, owning a house is a nice thing, however, driving force to own a house became so important that many people would do anything to achieve it even taking on huge mortgages and putting a burden on themselves for thirty years which financially is not always smart (almost never is). Many business entities, like banks and realtors took advantage of that, giving loans almost to anyone because almost anyone was ready to accept it. That eventually created a bubble and caused the economic crisis in 2007 after which we still have a tough time to move forward.

Let’s look at some statistics of American society today. 45 percent of Americans define themselves as middle class, but in 2010, in the middle of economic crisis, 41% of those were struggling to maintain their lifestyle and social status. 39% of Americans see themselves as working class or less well-off than that, and 14 percent as upper-middle class or better off. Average incomes for people who call themselves middle class are about $55,000 a year, vs. about $35,000 for those who call themselves working class or lower and about $95,000 for those who say they’re upper-middle class or better off.

American class is definitely hit the hardest by the crisis, and here is a bit more statistics to show it:
The sharpest deterioration in middle-class financial security is associated with the cost of a medical emergency. Americanprogress.org estimated that only 33.9 percent of families had enough wealth in 2007 to cover the cost of a medical emergency, down from 35.0 percent in 2005 and 43.7 percent in 2000 (See table on page 3). This deterioration comes as a result of less wealth and higher costs of medical emergencies.

Drops in personal wealth have contributed to the decline in middle-class financial security. Because house prices started to fall and debt continued to rise in 2007, the same organization also observed the share of families who could weather an unspecified emergency equal to three months of income decrease to 29.4 percent in 2007, from 30.5 percent in 2005 and 39.4 percent in 2000.

The share of families who had enough resources to cover a spell of unemployment has declined since 2000. In 2007, 44.1 percent of families had enough wealth to cover a spell of unemployment, little changed from 44.0 percent in 2005 but still down from 51.0 percent in 2000. Unfortunately, the 2007 data likely reflect only a temporary respite from decline since the labor market has substantially deteriorated in 2008, beyond the time series data presented here.

Here is even more disturbing statistics to show how well – or not at all – middle class is really in doing. 

Source: William Domhoff

(http://www.mybudget360.com/top-1-percent-control-42-percent-of-financial-wealth-in-the-us-how-average-americans-are-lured-into-debt-servitude-by-promises-of-mega-wealth/)

As we see from that graph, 42 percent of financial wealth is controlled by the top 1 percent. Bottom 80% which includes middle class owns only 7% of financial wealth. Is that American Dream? And can it continue that way?

What is the American Dream today? Does it still exist? Interesting to know what majority of people think about that. Results from polls collected by Hanson and Zogby in the past two decades are used to examine trends in attitudes about the American Dream. Most Americans continued to believe that working hard is the most important element for getting ahead in the United States. However, in some surveys, an increasing minority of Americans reported that this hard work and determination does not guarantee success. A majority of respondents believe that achieving the American Dream will be more difficult for future generations, although this majority is becoming smaller. Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the opportunity for the working class to get ahead and increasingly optimistic about the opportunity for the poor and immigrants to get ahead in the United States.

I am an immigrant, I came to the United States of America eleven years ago, in June of 2001. I stayed here mainly because of the American Dream, the countless opportunities I saw in this country. Only in this country I could possibly do anything I could think of and achieve everything I have dreamt of. I would be relatively successful in any country in the world, but I would stop short of my own potential, I would not get a chance to explore all my talents and skills. Only the United States of America could give me that.

The economic crisis started in 2007 has hurt a lot of people, especially middle class, but I believe, American Dream is still alive, although it definitely has changed.

There are a few factors that present in American society today that make me believe in the American dream that anything is still possible:

1. American Constitution – freedom of speech, freedom of expressing yourself and freedom to live your life the way you want are provided to any (legal) resident of the United States. This creates a truly unique situation for people to be able to apply themselves creatively in any legal way.

2. Legal system, including taxes – legal system has been developed in this country in favor of businesses, entrepreneurs, inventors and innovators. While laws protect all people equally, many tax laws, corporate laws, copyright and patent laws create perfect conditions for progress and building fortunes.

3. People with American dream mentality and no judgment towards others – it is not as easy to build your life one way when people around you are building it the other way and expect you to do the same. In short, it is not easy to go against traditions, standards, expectations, cold judgments, envy etc. In America no matter what your dreams are, people can understand, relate and even help you to achieve them. There are successful and happy people in US of different nationalities, races, skin color, sexual orientation, talent level, intelligence, abilities and ambitions. Whatever you want to do, you will find someone else who can relate to that and help you in your journey. It is not a coincidence that there are more self-help and how-to books published in America than any other country. In general, people want not only to be successful themselves, but help others to do the same, and America leads the way. That can’t be underestimated.

4. American history – Americans take pride of their history as they should. There were struggles, as in anything worthwhile. But at the end, American history is full of non-stop development, progress, innovation, discoveries and contribution to the world. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, the Wright brothers, Albert Einstein and many others have changed the world with their work. Bill Gates has changed the world again in the 1980s, and many people today continue to follow the footsteps.

5. Economy – yes, even economy is one of the positive factors. The crisis has changed many things, and the situation is not that great for many people and businesses. However, according to the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. GDP is remarkable $14.870 trillion which constitutes 24% of the gross world product at market exchange rates and almost 21% of the gross world product at purchasing power parity (PPP). It is the world's number one producer of electrical and nuclear energy, as well as liquid natural gas, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. While agriculture accounts for less than 1% of GDP, the United States is the world's top producer of corn and soybeans. The New York Stock Exchange is the world's largest by dollar volume. There are many things to fix and improve in American economy, but it is the biggest consumer market in the world with the great amount of opportunities still in it.

About many of those opportunities we will talk on the pages of this forum.

Stock market investing

Stock market investing is not for everyone.  It is not necessary fun and can be stressful, and of course people do lose money sometimes.  However, it's not as hard as many think.  It requires time, research, decision making and patience, but you can make money with it and improve your financial situation.

For example, I invested in stocks of Arena Pharmaceuticals (symbol: ARNA) in March for $2.90 per share and then I bought more of the same shares in April when it dropped to $2.20.  Did I panic when the stock was losing value and lost 25% in a month?  Not at all.  I did my research before I bought it for $2.90 and trusted this research.  Was the research perfect?  No, otherwise I would wait to buy all of the shares for $2.20.  But either way, I didn't see any reasons for a panic.

Shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals leaped on May 2nd after the company announced the U.S. Food & Drug Administration will hold a hearing May 10 to discuss the application of the company's anti-obesity medication Lorcaserin (the information about this meeting taking place at some point was public even in March though). The news came as Arena announced that its first-quarter loss was down to $26.6 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a loss of $39.9 million, or 35 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.  Shares were up nearly 9% to $2.55.

On May 8th shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals were up 18% at $3.19, ahead of a scheduled meeting of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel that will discuss whether to recommend approval of Arena's weight-loss drug lorcaserin.

Arena Pharmaceuticals shares rocketed 75% to $6.42 early on May 11th, the day after an advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted to recommend agency approval for Arena's diet pill lorcaserin.

Could I sell the shares at this price to make a decent profit (today it's $6.61 which is 228% increase from $2.90 and  300% profit from $2.20 price)?  I could, but the thing is when Arena will get a formal approval and start selling lorcaserin company shares should go even higher.  I am not just trying to make a bit of money, but also be a small part of the process of a growth of a company that could make a difference. 

Is stock market investing for everyone?  Definitely not.  But I enjoy the process, and I make money.  You may consider doing it too.  Please share your thoughts or experience leaving comments below.  Also if you are interested in writing for this blog contact me at ilya.rockwell@yahoo.com  Thank you!

Welcome message!

Welcome to “Dare Your Money” – a place where people challenge their thoughts and ideas on the concept of money through open discussion and education in an effort to drastically improve one’s financial situation. Too many people today are buried in debt with no ability to even visualize escape. Others are just barely getting by or possibly even making ends meet but never accumulating any real assets. They are therefore stuck in their current financial situation indefinitely. What is holding you back from achieving the wealth you deserve?

It is easy to feel trapped by your financial situation. If your financial portfolio is anything less than what you want it to be, you are experiencing some level of financial pain. Elevating your finances from a position of financial struggle to a position of financial freedom is actually achievable and probably easier than many people think. One critical component to this transition is the need to develop an understanding of where you are today and see how that compares to where you desire to be.

The soon to be released book, "Invigorate Your Financial World" is a great tool which helps you identify your personal financial level and provide simple yet significant steps you can take to successfully and efficiently transform your level of wealth, even in the midst of today’s weak economy. The goal of this forum is to begin to explore our thoughts and ideas on money and help each other to see which ones are supporting us and which ones are keeping us from achieving ultimate financial success.

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