I read an article recently about the American Dream. According to this report, 5% of people in the United States earning $25,000 a year or less felt that they were living the American Dream. When the annual income went up to $60,000 a year the percentage rate only raised 1%, giving credibility to the reality that the more we have the more we want.
The article went on to describe the life of a young woman working in the financial world who was making an enormous amount of money and living in a lifestyle that allowed her to hire people to do everything for her, from personal shopping to walking her dog and everything in between. Her comments about this were that even though she enjoyed riding the fast train in some ways it felt very unreal to her. Her lifestyle also led her to fall heavily in debt as she felt that the income would always be there. With the economic downturn she lost her job and went from the fast track to no track. She moved to a smaller community, filed for bankruptcy and started over and today she feels that she got her life back. She is living a much healthier and happier life and this meaningful social change was actually a good thing for her (she enjoys walking her dog herself!).
I speak to people every day who have found themselves in similar circumstances as the woman in this article. It seems that this change in the economic environment has happened very quickly and a lot of people have been caught wondering what happened. At Hoyes Michalos & Associates Inc. we have helped many, many people to find a better way of life than running the race to keep up with payments. If you are finding yourself exhausted from trying to keep up this pace give send us an e-mail or call us at 310-PLAN to speak to one of our professionals. We would be happy to review your situation and answer any questions you may have. Filing a consumer proposal to creditors or personal bankruptcy may solve your situation.
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