Excerpt from the Foreword:

The reality is that many lifelong Americans don’t know how to make and save money in America. Seems strange and yet we all recognize that the forces that seem to prevent us from making and saving have gotten stronger. We have more people working (husbands
AND wives), but the family seems to be no better off.

In fact, the opposite seems true, as compared to life in the 1950’s when Pop worked and Mom was able to devote herself to her offspring with her whole heart. Like it or not, things have gotten tougher in America and it appears for all intents and purposes to be getting worse.

Clearly, our standards of living are lower than those experienced by our parents. This is certainly and especially true if you are accustomed to a middle class lifestyle. The middle class, as a group, is stressed out.

Someone might argue, but aren’t our wages higher than they were back in the ‘50’s? Yes, but not if you consider inflation. Since you picked up a copy of this book, it should be safe for me to assume you are not happy with the status quo. You are not satisfied with your current situation and are looking for answers.

Why has this erosion of our standard of living occurred? Outsourcing to Asia is one reason given for the whittling away of our standard of living, at least for Middle America.

And the extremely wealthy appear to be insulated from the effects of outsourcing. The Federal Reserve System is another often given reason, and I agree, as inflation is a “hidden” tax. Surely, there are other reasons, but I am not looking for someone to blame, ultimately I am just trying to provide some help for you.