The middle class is a group of people who have jobs and earn enough money to pay for the things they need, like a home, food, and clothes. They are not rich, but they are not poor either. However, even though they make a good income, they often struggle to get ahead financially. This is because they have a lot of expenses that eat up their money, like mortgages, car payments, and credit card debt.
One of the biggest reasons why the middle class struggles is because they don’t understand the true meaning of wealth. Wealth is not just about having a lot of money, it’s about having enough money to live the life you want without having to work all the time. “Wealth is a person’s ability to survive for a certain number of days forward – or, if they stopped working today, how long could they survive?”
For example, if you have $10,000 in the bank and your monthly expenses are $1,000, you have enough money to survive for 10 months without working. That’s wealth! But if you have a big house with a mortgage payment of $2,000 per month, car payments of $500 per month, and credit card debt of $1,000 per month, then you have a lot of expenses to pay every month. Even if you make a good income, you may not have enough money left over to save and invest for your future.
That’s why it’s important to routinely think about your income and properties like whether your house is an asset or a liability. An asset is something that puts money in your pocket, like a rental property that generates income. A liability is something that takes money out of your pocket, like a big house with a big mortgage payment. If you buy a big house that you can’t afford, it may seem like an asset because it’s worth a lot of money, but in reality, it’s a liability because it costs you money every month to maintain and pay for.
So, if you want to become wealthy, you need to focus on building assets that generate income and reducing your liabilities that take money out of your pocket. This means avoiding *bad* debt, and investing in assets that will grow in value over time. If you can do this, you’ll have the financial freedom to live the life you want without having to work all the time.
In conclusion, the middle class struggles because they often have a lot of expenses that eat up their money, and they don’t understand the true meaning of wealth. Wealth is not just about having a lot of money, it’s about having enough money to live the life you want without having to work all the time. By focusing on building assets that generate income and reducing liabilities that take money out of your pocket, you can achieve true wealth and financial freedom.