I came across an article recently that threw me for a loop. I read it several times, wondering if it was possible.
The more I read it, the more I realized that it was not only possible, but even probable in most instances. It talked about the things that the Middle Class won’t be able to afford in the next five years. These items include…
1 – Extended Family Vacations
Trips, especially overseas, will probably become a thing of the past. Those times when a family might spend a month with relatives might end, because they’ll need to be home to earn a living.
2 – New Cars
Auto prices have increased gratuitously while incomes haven’t begun to keep pace.
3 – Private School Tuition
When considering inflation, the cost of groceries, and other basics like utilities, this change becomes obvious.
4 – Homeownership
We’re already seeing a trend, where homeownership is changing to a more European Style, with multiple generations living in the same house. It’s just too expensive for many to afford their own homes, and it’s getting worse as time goes on.
5 – Healthcare
Yet another basic that’s also skyrocketing and becoming unaffordable for many.
6 – Leisure And Travel In Retirement
If the majority of your earnings from a fixed income go to food, shelter, and medicine, it won’t leave much if anything for that dream vacation of floating down the Seine.
Let me leave you with this…
The implications of these changes boggle the mind.
When I was a boy growing up in the 60’s and 70’s here on the North Side, women didn’t work. The bills got paid and we were able to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.
By the time I graduated from college in the late 80’s, everything had changed. All of a sudden, in order to maintain a middle class lifestyle, women needed to work. This raised all sorts of questions from who’s going to watch the kids, to others like how many kids could actually be afforded.
Fast forward another generation, and here we are. We may be seeing the end of the middle class.
This has already happened in older industrialized nations in Western Europe where there’s nothing but the landed wealthy and the surfs. Three or four generations live in the same home, because it’s the only way they can possibly make it.
One of the solutions to this problem is Entrepreneuring. 20 years from now, who else will be able to afford the American Dream?
Lots of changes are coming and many won’t be for the better.
But know that you aren’t in this thing alone. We’re right there with you. If you have questions or needs, you know my number.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
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Sincerely yours,
Chris Amundson
President
Accounting Solutions Ltd.
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