The Middle-Class Epidemic

52% of Americans in the US are considered middle class.

For them, the American dream is something that most of them aspire to achieve – to become successful and enjoy life on their own terms.

To become filthy rich and do whatever they want through hard work, sacrifice and calculated risks.

But for most people, it’s just that – a dream that will never come to life.

When The Dream Is No Longer A Reality

The truth is, most of them will never achieve this goal in their lifetime.

In 2018, the average income for a middle class salary worker was $46,644 per year. 

That means the average income per month in the US is about $3,887 a month before deductions are factored in.

Let’s assume that you made this much money per year.

And let’s imagine that in order to become financially confident and never work again, you would need at least a million dollars.

At the rate of $4,000 a month, it would take you 20 years and 9 months to achieve that goal. By the time you make enough that you can live off of comfortably, you would already be in your 40’s.

These numbers do not account for other various factors, such as deductions, expenses, inflation, and the economy.

When you look at the whole picture, you’ll realize that it is nearly impossible to make such a dream a reality.

In fact, 44% of consumers in the US don’t make enough to cover their expenses. They live from paycheque to paycheque, barely able to cover their basic necessities like food and shelter.

Why The Middle Class Is Slowly Becoming Extinct

For these people, the dream of becoming wealthy is far from a reality.

Most families are in between poverty and the wealthy – the middle class.

But for other families, the struggle to survive haunts them at their doorstep every day, urging them to get up and go to work.

Recent statistics have shown that:

• 33% of US workers make less than $20,000 a year
• 46% of US workers make less than $30,000 a year
• 58% of US workers make less than $40,000 a year
• 67% of US workers make less than $50,000 a year

And with the cost of goods rising every single year, more and more families are playing catch up to make enough to survive.

The bottom line is that most families are not earning enough income to sustain their needs, and are struggling to not fall into poverty.

The average US household has 4 family members living under one roof. And on average, more than 40% of these households make less than $25,750 a year.

The struggle for these families to make enough income to maintain their lifestyle is becoming more and more prevalent as the years go by.

The days of having one breadwinner in a single household are gone.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 63% of households have both parents working in order to make enough income.

For households that can’t afford to allow both parents to work, other avenues such as starting a business are the only option left.

But in unstable economic times, starting a business can be costly and most importantly carries risk. 

20% of businesses fail within the first year of being started, with this number increasing to over 50% within the next five years.

For those without experience, starting a business is not a good solution. I know.

When Desperation Leads To Madness

When I was young, I lived every day in poverty with my mom in our tiny little one bedroom apartment. I was desperate to become rich and because of my desperation, I made some very bad decisions. 

In an attempt to get rich quick, I started and failed at over 13 businesses which led to us racking over $100,000 in debt on my mom’s credit card.

My failed business endeavours included lawn mowing, computer repair, vending machine services and multi level marketing.

My mom was devastated, my pride was humiliated, and we were on the verge of bankruptcy. 

So whenever someone comes up to me and tells me a similar situation, I understand exactly how they feel. I went through the same thing, so I know it’s possible to become successful even if you came from a poor background.

For those that want to achieve success, my advice to them is to become educated.

The Secret ‘Something’ Rich People Have That You Don’t

You see, at that time I didn’t know any other way to earn a handsome income.

I knew that there were many business people who were successful and wealthy. So I thought that in order to become like them, I had to own a business.

But in reality, what I was missing wasn’t business experience. I was missing a high income skill.

A high income skill is defined as the following:

• Generates over $10,000 a month
• Paid based on the results you deliver to the marketplace, not the amount of time you spend working
• The better you are at it, the more you earn

If you look at all anyone who’s successful today, they all have high income skills.

Steve Jobs had a high income skill – he was one of the best marketers in the world and created Apple.

Bill Gates has a high income skill – he was a programmer who went on to start the billion dollar company Microsoft.

Warren Buffett has a high income skill – he’s the best stock investor in the world.

All these people made their fortunes not by working a job, but by having a high income skill.

And only after they became very good at their individual skills, did they start a business to take it even further.

Back then I was a young kid and had no skills to offer to the marketplace, besides a bunch of crazy ideas and my mom’s credit card.

Going back to my story, I landed myself in $100,000 in debt and had no way out. I was even thinking of starting another business, hoping that this one would succeed where all my previous attempts failed.

But then I found my mentor Alan Jacques.

Alan was a copywriter, and was someone who I had been studying for some time. When I finally met him one day at a seminar – after a lot of begging and stubbornness, he finally decided to take me under his wing and teach me everything he knew.

That was the day I acquired the high income skill of copywriting, and slowly started climbing out of the hole of debt.

The Education Epidemic

So why are so many US workers struggling in the middle class?

Why are they not being paid enough?

What is the problem?

My belief is that the reason why so many people struggle to get out of the ‘rat race’ and become wealthy, is because they lack education.

When I was growing up, school did not teach me anything about business. It did not teach me anything about finances, money, investing or high income skills.

Those who do not have knowledge about how to control their financial destiny, will be stuck forever earning a middle class income.

When I started taking responsibility for my life, I started on my path to success.

I read books, listened to mentors, studied what successful business people did.

One of the philosophies that I teach my students is that your life is your responsibility.

If you are not happy with it or if it sucks, it’s your fault.

You are the only person who controls your life, and if you want to become successful, you need to take action to achieve it.

You’re Not Middle Class, You Have A Middle Class Mindset

Realize that being middle class is simply because of your income level.

If you can increase your income, you are no longer middle class.

The problem is, most people they don’t earn enough and don’t know how to increase their income. Their mindset is limited to working a job and finding better paying jobs.

They lack the education and knowledge of what else they can do. As a result they become nothing more than a statistic like everyone else, doomed to never achieve their goals and dreams of being super successful.

Most people are stuck in the middle class and stuck in the rat race because of their mindset.

Trying to become successful by finding a better paying job doesn’t work.

Even if you found a job that paid $100,000 a year, it would still take at least 10 years before you made enough to retire comfortably.

Realize that you will never become successful from a job, because your income will always be capped. 

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