The Two-Income Trap -- Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke, by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, describes a disturbing and little discussed trend in American family finances:

"The people who consistently rank in the worst financial trouble 
are united by one surprising characteristic. They are parents 
with children at home."

Their research shows that the costs associated with raising kids -- good public schools (i.e. expensive homes in good neighborhoods), health insurance, day care, and college educations -- these days REQUIRE two incomes.

Mom HAS to work.

Not only does she have to work, but working doesn't provide the financial buffer expected of an additional household income... 

"Today, after an average two-income family makes its house 
payments, car payments, insurance payments, and child care 
payments, they have LESS money left over than their single 
income counterparts of the early 1970's."

Historically, mom was a sort of financial safety net. If dad lost his job, mom could go to work to bridge this income gap.

Today, with debt-enabled high costs -- large mortgages, multiple car notes, workplace wardrobe --

Mom's takehome  pay just about covers household debt payments.

Because there is no extra "woman power" to deploy in times of financial emergency, and there is no 6-month Rainy Day fund safety net, one laid off spouse can lead to bankruptcy. 

In fact, two working spouses doubles the odds of a layoff, making two-income families MORE risky, not less!

Fixed costs -- mortgages, car notes, credit card payments, health insurance, etc., requiring two incomes cannot be paid by one.

The trap is sprung!

Financial "experts"  suggest a way out of this trap: Replace the lack of a backup worker safety net with a budget and a 6-month Rainy Day fund.

And, the authors of The Two-Income Trap suggest political action and personal savings.

I'm sure you see at least two fallacies in these solutions:

1. American's are currently saving less than 2% of their disposable income. If two-income families are already spending every cent they make to service their ongoing expenses, how will they create their Rainy Day fund ?

And, if they think squeezing the family budget to collect a few drops of savings will create 6 TIMES THE TOTAL of ALL of their monthly expenses in any reasonable period of time, as has been widely recommended by financial "experts" since the Richest Man in Babylon was a baby, then why does practically NO ONE have this 
much cash available?

2. Political activism requires time. With both parents working, precious little free time is available; and political change can be agonizingly slow.

If, however, we take an enlightened  look at family finances, we may see the extremely large elephant sitting in the living room:

30% to 40% of family paychecks are consumed by debt payments.

And, lo and behold, debt payments DO NOT have to be perpetual fixed costs! (Although a lot of money is made, and a lot of moms work, because we've been taught to believe that they are.)

If moms, instead of lobbying legislators, politicians and school boards, invested in immediately implementable solutions which directly attack and rapidly eliminate family debt, they will virtually guarantee a return of their safety net. 

When  families recapture 30% to 40%  or more of their income from their creditors, they build substantial Rainy Day funds in a matter of months -- not years!

Debt-Free  ownership of everything as quickly as possible -- Home, Cars, Education, and everything that was bought using a credit card -- positions a family to survive the predominant maladies which are driving two-income families into bankruptcy: Layoff, Illness, and Divorce.

As you can see, this isn't really a "Two-Income Trap" after all. It's a Debt Trap enabled by two incomes!

Escape your creditors and you will escape this trap!

The only way to escape your Debt Trap is to pay off all of your debts as fast as possible -- 5 to 7 years is the average for clients using the Debt Into Wealth System (including their 30-year mortgage)! 

 
You, too, are going to pay off every dime of your consumer debts -- credit cards, car notes, student loans, medical bills -- in about 1 to 3 years...

You're going to pay off every dime of your home equity loan and 30-year mortgage, if you have them, in another 3 to 4 years...

And you're going to do all of this using the money you ALREADY make!

 
In my 3-hour Debt Freedom seminars taught at  Corporations, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin Community College, Conferences, and Churches, participants learn that most Americans... in fact, most wage earners in industrialized countries with a middle class -- Americans, Canadians,  Australians, New Zealanders, Europeans -- can virtually eliminate financial disasters associated with Layoff, Illness, or Divorce. 

 
I designed  "DebtIntoWealth -- Lessons From My Journey to Debt Freedom"  to capture the lessons I learned while achieving Debt Freedom and the information  I teach in my seminars so that you, too, can achieve Debt Freedom FAST!

Here's an overview of some of the Lessons and benefits you'll discover in my Course Manual:

The first and crucial step is to pay off ALL of your debts as quickly as you possibly can. This is the exact opposite of  the "save money" advicemost financial experts provide. 

Using  your  Course manual, you'll discover that "saved money" while you are in debt is really an illusion perpetuated by the very institutions you owe money to. Here's a clue. Who does it profit more to keep your money in a bank at less than 1%? You? Or the bank ?

 
Rapid Debt Payoff is an idea that's starting to catch on in some enlightened financial circles:
 

"Everyone should be aggressively paying off MORTGAGE debt as fast as possible."  Suze Orman, financial planning self-help guru and author of six best-selling financial self-help books

Suze has always advocated paying off credit cards. Her recent announcement that you should pay off ALL debt, including your mortgage, highlights the devastating impact of debt on ordinary families.