The Ran-Ham bowling alley decorates with hundreds of dollars that customers contribute. But around the country, most people are dealing with a severe shortage of bucks.

You hear the news every day. Talking Heads say things like, “Consumer confidence is down,” “People are pinched to pay their bills,” The job and housing markets are leaving millions behind.”

• On the upside, US stocks

Stock market indexes continue to race skyward and break records, with the S&P 500 nearly doubling in value in the last 3 years. So if you have a lot of money in stocks, you’re making more, and maybe getting rich. Why? Well, companies are making money! They don’t seem to dance to the same drummer as the people they sell to. To put it simply, the rich are getting richer.

• On the downside, executive pay…

A Star Tribune story today states that CEO pay is at record levels. To quote, “The median total compensation for S&P 500 companies in 2024 was $16.4 million, up 11% from the prior year.” We’re happy for them, right? But…the downside is that their average employee earns about 1/280th of that.

Fair? Probably not. And the disparity symbolizes the present political push to favor the top 1 (or 5 or 10) percent, and punish the rest. Just study the Big Beautiful Bill, with cuts in healthcare, food assistance, and overall government support and services for the vast majority of Americans…while inflation keeps rising way more than cooked government numbers admit.

• On the downside, debt is crushing most Americans

This story runs often, but a recent CNBC online article tells us that, “About 71% of U.S. adults surveyed say monthly debt payments prevent them from building wealth or savings.” Yep, credit card debt is (again) breaking records. And, really, will someone explain to me why the banks behind those cards are allowed to charge up to ~24% while the same banks investments in interest-paying holdings pay about 1 – 4%?

Credit card debt has reached $1.21 trillio—while most people can’t save a meaningful amount, no matter how much they cut back or how many jobs they work.

• Practice Fiscal Fitness

It’s easy to say, harder to do. But once again, here are BreakAway’s 11 Commandments of Fiscal Fitness (because 10 is not enough). Today’s favorite: Know credit—or no credit!

It’s never too late to make some meaningful monetary changes, and never too early to save whatever and however you can.

Keep the faith!