MONEY THOUGHT:

It Ain’t About the Paycheck

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “If only I was making more money, then life would be easier”? If so, I’ve got some bad news for you because it doesn’t work like that for most people. A recent survey conducted by PYMNTS.com and LendingClub found that even people bringing in more that $100k per year often end up living paycheck to paycheck. The moral of the story: it ain’t about the paycheck.

It’s not a surprise that people earning less than $50,000 a year might struggle to save money every month, but people earning more than $100,00? Yup, even high earners can struggle with their cash. The problem for high earners is often something called “Lifestyle creep”. It’s where we match our outflows to our inflows and then struggle to rein it back in.

The millennial generation, in particular, seems to struggle with using their funds the most. Millennials reported living paycheck to paycheck 14% more than either Gen X ahead of us or Gen Z behind us. No matter how much we earn, there is always something calling out for our money. If it isn’t lifestyle creep, its student debt, credit cards, Instagram lifestyles, increasing home prices, or all of the above.

Personally, I think this is the result of a mash-up of things. Not least is the fact that we don’t talk about money. Financial literacy rates have been falling across the board since FINRA started surveying for literacy in 2009, but the youngest class of respondents has been dropping at the fastest rate. I also think that millennials feel burned after the Great Recession in ’08-’09 and want a different kind of advice from a different kind of advisor than the financial services industry is presenting. Because it ain’t about the paycheck. That’s where Valkyrie Financial comes in. I do things differently. Smash the button below to talk about how I can help get you out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle.

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Wisconsin CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and educator Sarah Paulson

THE AUTHOR

Meet Sarah Paulson, your
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER

Although I’m a born-and-raised Wisconsinite – living in Appleton, Wisconsin –

I consider myself more of a world citizen.

True story: once when going through international customs in Amsterdam, the officers asked why they couldn’t find a Dutch residency permit in my American passport.

I bring a big world picture to my money management advice so you can view the wider world, too.

All written content on this site is for information purposes only.
Opinions expressed herein are solely those of Valkyrie Financial, unless otherwise specifically cited.

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