It’s not easy to mentally accept and emotionally claim that I have surpassed and outgrown my original “income social status” goal. For the last 20 years I have been aggressively positioning my retirement portfolio. I signed up for and attended courses offered by my organization and other programs that taught what I was desperate to learn: how to be financially secure. Well, as time and my retirement portfolio have proven, I am an exceptional student.

 

The best ever advice or observation I have learned yet is the principles of a quote from American entertainer, Sophie Tucker, about girls and money:

 

 

I keep this quote in a jeweled frame on my desk as a constant reminder and motivator. The frame reminds me that I can still enjoy my life while investing in the security of my financial future. There is nothing more civilized, dignified and comforting than knowing you can handle your business. 

 

However, being able to handle my financial business also meant crowing (albeit indirectly) about my income earning status. After being in the workforce for over 40 years, I have earned every penny of my middle/upper middle class income and socio-economic status. I don’t want to give that up! I hadn’t realized that my professional income earning identity was also tied to my social standing in society. This new awareness is yet another bruise to my already battered woman-of-independent-means ego. But if I want to survive and thrive from this experience, I must give up my “pride of income” mindset and move on.  

 

My name is Mary, and I’m in recovery from being an Income Snob.