Financial Advice - Living Pay Check to Pay Check?

Why So Many Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

Q: Dear April Masini,

I have many friends who have seemingly good jobs, yet always seem to be living paycheck to paycheck. They have really nice houses, possessions, and go on big vacations. But when it comes time to pay the bills, they claim they're waiting for their paycheck. My family always has money in the bank and I can't imagine having to live like this. Why do so many people need to live paycheck to paycheck?

Sincerely,

It's Friday Night and I Just Got Paid

A:

Dear It's Friday Night and I Just Paid,

It's not the paycheck that's the problem. It's the spending and the sense of entitlement that is the problem among Americans and mostly middle and upper middle class Americans. This is a psychological problem, not a financial or economic one.

Why Americans are living paycheck to paycheck: 

* There is a lack of self-esteem that runs underneath the bravado that is much of America, and people feel that they are less than if they have fewer possessions. Sadly, this drive to feel better about themselves fuels many Americans to spend more than they make and leverage what they have, often resulting in paycheck to paycheck living or worse -- big time debt.

* Celebrity culture invites America's youth to be rich and famous without being educated or moral. Bling is more important than a B.A. and being a star becomes more interesting than being reliable over the long term, financially to many Americans.

* Unforeseen responsibility has stricken middle America in the face of divorce. Many Americans who said I do thought their vows were solid. Until they were served with divorce papers. Divorce creates financial stress for many families in American, most of them single-mother families. Having to work creates child-care financial stress, which creates stress on the family, which creates medical and health stress, etc.

* The sandwich generation is stuck paying for young'uns and parents who are living longer than ever. While Glam-parents who are independent and thriving abound, there is a big group of seniors who are living longer and sicker. The financial responsibility for them falls on their children who are often middle or upper middle class and financially stressed because of this burden.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

© 2004-2009 AskApril.com, LLC. All rights reserved. AskApril®, AskApril.com®, and Ask April® are registered trademarks owned by Masini Enterprises, Inc. This material can only be republished and redistributed if it is kept in it's original form, including, but not limited to, all AskApril branding, banners, links, books, and credits.