This reminds me of a conversation I was having recently with some engaged friends of mine, who are in their early 30s and were worried about whether they were r

This reminds me of a conversation I was having recently with some engaged friends of mine, who are in their early 30s and were worried about whether they were really financially ready to have children yet. Of course they were extremely middle-class and presumably have a combined income well into the six-figure range, but they were still worried about whether they could financially support one kid. And then you've got stuff like this. Whenever they interview a poor person for one of these sorts of articles, it always seems to be someone who has managed to make some really bad life decisions. This should make us happy -- it indicates that if you can avoid the following bad lifestyle decisions: 1. Gambling 2. Drugs 3. Excessive alcohol 4. Becoming a single mother 5. Dropping out of high school then your chances of being poor in America are really extremely low.