Because of the importance of money, many people frame the first dollar they earned. I didn't. Because I earned my first dollar selling lemonade, I would have had to frame four quarters. Nevertheless, because I believe it's never too late, I framed my first earnings notification from Google. For selling ads on my blog I was notified I'd earned two cents. I interpreted that as meaning someone had gotten their two cents worth.



According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, there are better paying jobs. The top-paying jobs are doctor, pilot and chief executive. Because not everyone is qualified for those jobs, the Bureau reported that the top-paying jobs for high school graduates are computer software engineer, computer systems manager and computer programmer. For those without a high school degree, the top-paying jobs are industrial production manager, correctional officer and drafter. The difference in pay between doctor and drafter is $111,000, so whoever said do what you love and the money will follow may not have been following this closely.

When the New York Times did a survey about job security, 80% of those surveyed said they were earning the same amount of money or less than they had two years ago. In spite of that, the survey reported that their main economic concern wasn't money. It was the cost of fuel. Obviously, you can't get ahead if you can't get anywhere.

According to a study done by the Economic Policy Institute, the rich are getting ahead faster than the middle and lower classes. The incomes of the richest 5% of Americans increased by 59.8 %. The incomes of the middle 20% of Americans increased by 13% and the incomes for the bottom 20% increased by 11.1%. This might explain why the American Psychological Association reported that 60% of us stress most about money - but I disagree. I think we stress most about lack of money.

Although America is trillions of dollars in debt and personal debt is growing, I stopped worrying about it after reading an ad for anti-wrinkle cream that cost $99. Because I thought that was outlandishly expensive, I Googled anti-wrinkle creams and was shocked to find out they can cost a lot more. These creams are meant to reduce wrinkles, firm skin, remove age spots and more. Unfortunately, none of the creams would remove the worry lines I'd get by spending so much money.