52%: Ways to Become a Middle Class

By Wright Aloba

The book is a roadmap of how to become a middle class and at the earliest time possible. The road to the middle class is so easy to achieve, like a child’s play. The book uniquely provides interactions with readers by incorporating various quizzes and discussion questions to measure the level of reader’s understanding and comprehension of the subject matter discussed.

The book also contains narratives and case studies that parents, guardians, leaders, teachers and groups can use as discussion questions/points in homes, classrooms, public engagements and organizations. The book is a guide on how to raise children as early in life as possible. It is a book written for all ages and highly recommended especially for the youths, where the preparation and mindset to be a middle class elite should begin.

The author strongly believe that regardless of race, color, religion, birthplace, social economic level and environment any individual can achieve the middle class status and beyond. To be a middle class elite does not require a degree in rocket science, rather, it requires a simple commitment to basic fundamentals of life responsibilities. It requires discipline and commitment to the keys that open the doors of success to the middle class. What we become in life is left to every individual and how far we go or excel in life depends on our efforts and sacrifice.

If 52 percent of Americans are already in the middle class, anyone could and should plan to be part of the middle class.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781663228307

Wright Aloba

Wright Aloba has a master’s degree in business administration from the college of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia and bachelor of accounting degree from Norfolk State University, Norfolk, Virginia. He was a former assistant professor of accounting for over 14 years. He is currently in private practice as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), financial and management consulting in Hampton, Virginia, since 1986. He is inspired to write this book because each day, he keeps saying to himself at the end of any event and circumstances, “I wish I knew then what I know now, I would have done this or that differently.” He hopes the suggestions in 52% will assist everyone to know what they need to know, at the right time and plan accordingly. He believes knowledge is golden and planning is divine. He has published three other novels: Family affairs, Family love affairs and Hold your judgment.

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Copyright © 2021 Wright Aloba.

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-2831-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-2830-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021917769

iUniverse rev. date:   09/22/2021

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

General Overview

Objectives of the Book

The Mindset and Aspirations of the Middle Class

A Must Have Foundation for the Middle Class

Character

Basic Characteristics of Middle Class

The Importance of Healthy Relationships

Set Goals and have a Positive Frame of Mind

Dreams

Evaluate Yourself Periodically and Continuously

Work Hard and even Harder, for your Life

The Values of Children’s Early Responsibilities

Basic Reasons for Getting a Job

What do Employers want from Employees?

When do you know if you are ready to be your own boss?

Believe, Expect and Demand the Best from Yourself

Stay Out of Trouble at All Cost

Stay Healthy and keep the Doctors Away

Expect to Fail Along the Way

Honesty, Integrity and Trustworthiness

Be a Maverick When Setting Your Goals

Develop and Have Solutions Based Mindset

Commit to and Be Devoted to Your Goals

The rope to skip and rope to jump.

How long should you Finance Purchases?

Financial literacy

Basic budgeting

Drafting a financial budget

Profit and loss

Basic financial budgets

Live Within Your Budget (Your Means)

Balance sheet

How much are you worth?

Calculation or determination of net worth

Middle Class Investment Strategies

Savings, banking and money management

Set aside one year of household living expenses

Work and seek the services of financial advisors early and continuously

Estate Planning

Pension Plan(s) and other Retirement Vehicles

The first thing to do immediately you join an organization regardless of your compensation

Retirement Portfolio

Managing Money Already Earned

How to Save for Your Retirement

Credit Cards and Credit Cards Management

Obtaining Credit or Refinancing Existing Debts

Rule of thumb for managing credit card

Are Debts always Good or Bad?

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

Signs and Evidence Your Plan Is Working Well

How much do you need to live on upon retirement?

Five yardsticks (the five C’s) or areas creditors (banks) consider before granting a loan

Is bankruptcy an option for financial failure?

Give back

All work without play

Heard on the Street: Facts or Fiction

Saving tax returns and supporting documents on digital

Final quiz

Disclaimer

Dedication

To my wife, Kaine, for her enormous contributions, understanding, accommodation and support, especially for disturbing her beauty sleep many nights; as I turned on the lights at the wee hours of many mornings to jot down anything that came to my mind. I want to thank my beautiful children, Pearl and Esosa, who were my inspiration to write this book.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank my wife, Kaine, for her wisdom and suggestions on how to get my points across clearly and effectively. Her support and encouragement play a vital role in completing this book.

I also want to say a big thank you to two great individuals who crossed my path earlier in my life’s journey:

First, I want to say I’m grateful to Valerie Honablue, an extraordinary physician and psychiatrist who showed me how to acquire real estate instead of renting. Dr. Honablue also taught me, unselfishly, the value of acquiring quality work of arts with the potential to increase in value.

Second, I doff my hat to Thelma Thompson, PhD., a renowned academia, who retired as the president of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, Princess Anne and a chieftaincy title of AMA, from Ghana, West Africa. Dr. Thompson’s undying love for me and my daughter is unparallel by any measure.

I know none of these great individuals will ever admit it, but they were instrumental in my path to the middle class. I wished I had listened to them more.

I want to thank Dr. DonnaMaria Tapp-Reid, who taught me the importance of good parenting and the need for quality education for children. I observed her countless times in her dental practice offering free education tips to parents and their children at no charge. Her passion is buying books as gifts to her patients on their birthdays. She always encouraged me to aim high. She taught me to always think long-term in all my endeavors.

I want to thank Ms. Kemi Ojo of London, England, for her tremendous advice for the book. She spent countless hours fine-tuning my thoughts and ideas to make the book instructional and easy to read and understand, especially for children and young adults, her specialty.

I want to thank Dr. Ogu Emejuru of Virginia Beach, who introduced me to a special individual that changed my life. His action has provided me with the happy family I dreamed of but had eluded me for a long time.

I want to thank my loving sister, Mrs. Christina Ashabo, Alliston Ontario, Canada, for her everlasting support, love and encouragement over the years. She never asked for anything in return. She is a true family by any definition. I must especially thank her for the months she spent with my family during the most critical time in our lives. She is God’s sent when no one else was willing to offer the same. As a result of her sacrifice, I was inspired to complete the book.

I want to thank my maternal grandparents, Chief Timothy and Comfort Egharevba Aloba, who took care of me while growing up and during my primary school years. They taught me hard work, discipline, my responsibility to respect others and the value of honesty in everything I do. They taught me by example and showed me the importance of dependability and to be a man of my word. They were my first heroes. I now understand that they sacrificed a lot for me with the little they had; my maternal grandfather was a village farmer, and my maternal grandmother was a housewife and a petty trader.

I cannot forget to thank my mother, Florence Tinuola Ehigie Aloba. She taught me the act of proper housekeeping and maintenance. She taught me how to cook delicious foods before the age of five, including how to cook black eye pea (beans) in more than five different ways. She taught me how to be sure to say Thank you to everyone and anyone, whether they are friends or foes. She instilled in me that sleeping eight hours a day was a myth. I watched her regularly get up at 2am and going to bed by 9 or 10pm. I had no reason to do otherwise.

As a full-time student working full time, her exemplary behavior made my college education possible and manageable. A mother who did not complete the first grade taught me, in her small shop, the importance of providing good customer service. She showed me how to organize the shop’s contents in order to make it attractive to potential customers. She taught me the craft of pricing and sales discount, and she taught me how to give free items to loyal customers and anyone that made bulk purchases. In retrospect, her training and business management, considered primitive even then, prepared me for my marketing, management, advertising and accounting college courses. I wished she had written a book about her business operations. She was a genius.

I want to express my gratitude to the few friends who took the time to listen to my constant justification and importance of the book for all ages.

I must not forget to thank all my clients (too numerous to mention everyone by name) for their support over the years. Without their patronage and support, my dreams would have been difficult, at best, to achieve. After all, it’s one thing for me to dream; it’s another to have the support and resources to make such dreams come to fruition. I learned a lot from their association. Many of them I am pleased to call my friends. I hope they feel the same about me.

I want to thank my editor, Alex Erswell, for her meticulous editing and proofreading of the manuscript. She provided excellent suggestions to make the contents of the book read a lot better.

Last but not least, I must thank myself because: I have fought a good fight.

Warning, as you prepare for the middle class!

As you prepare and focus on becoming middle class, be mindful of human behaviors or reactions you will encounter along the way. These human encounters may be the consequences of your growth and success. Some described these types of people commonly, The enemy of progress. The negative or unprogressive behaviors of those you will come across, one way or another, are often signs to cover for their own ignorance and failures.

You can do little about these human deficiencies because such mindsets have been with us from time immemorial. My only hope is that when you encounter these behaviors throughout your life’s journey (trust me, you will), recognize them, accept them and move on with your agenda. Keep in mind that you came to this world alone. After all, success, for the most part, attracts such behavior. Many loosely refer to these types of behaviors as jealousy.

Let me ask you this, when was the last time you observed anyone focusing or talking about non-achievers? When have you last observed anyone talking about classmates doing poorly in a class? On the other hand: a celebrity sneezes or talks about drugs or alcohol abuse; or let you be a class star with good grades, well behaved and stay out of trouble or makes more money; all of a sudden, everyone, including your close friends, those who don’t even know you all that well and your unfamiliar family members will be talking about you.

Here are few more examples for your thoughts:

People from your tribe, as in family members and people from your side of the fence may hate you because of your progress; or what they perceive as progress because you’re different or doing better than they are. They don’t want to know, consider or care about your struggles and/or the sacrifices you have made to get to where you are.

Then, there are other sets of people, not necessarily from your tribe, but from the other side of the fence, who will just hate you and call you names because of the color of your skin, your place of birth, your religion, and your lifestyle. As if you negotiated who or what you are with your creator. What’s more, you will encounter your classmates and later in life, associates, colleagues, bosses or even subordinates who will despise you because you’re working hard, progressing and achieving more than they are.

Some will even hate you because of your height, weight (whether normal, average or overweight). They will talk about the clothes you wear or how you wear them, or for wearing the same attire more than once a week. Many will bully you and laugh in your face and behind your back because they are jealous of your progress or for no reason.

Many will hate you because you are beautiful. They will even hate you because they consider you ugly, as if you selected your looks when you are born into this world.

Many people you will encounter will talk to and hate you regardless of what you are, what you do, what you don’t do, what you’re becoming or what they believe you should become.

Sometimes, you will wonder if these people have a life of their own, other than their negative actions and reactions about you. Remember this; they are what they are because of who they are. They never see the specks in their eyes covering their shortcomings. If they are made aware of the specks in their eyes, they are too busy looking into the specks in other peoples’ eyes to pay attention to anything else. Some are born like that. Some are raised like that. Some grew up like that. There is nothing you can do about them.

But keep in mind that many humans are not naturally rational or endowed with the DNA of fairness or common sense.

The point I’m making here is that these life encounters are facts of life as you improve yourself to join the middle class. Therefore, embrace these human reactions or behaviors as part of your goodness, don’t play into their irrational behavior. As colloquially expressed, Don’t pay them no mind. Don’t let them see you sweat. Don’t let yourself be a victim of their ignorance. Don’t let their negative expectations come to pass. After all, no one talks about you until you are somebody.

In other words, if no one talks about you, it’s an indication that you’re nobody and you are probably not going anywhere in life. People talking about you or behind your back is good!

Please, prove me wrong. I dare you.

Statistics

2018 data showed that 52% of Americans are in the middle class.

_______________________________________

Categories of

Middle Class

Sources:    Northern Mutual

                  Pew Research Institute

                  CNBC

General Overview

There is no universal definition of who is in the middle class. Still, according to Richard V Reeves, Katherine Guyot, and Eleanor Krause, the middle class may be defined according to the following attributes:

Cash:

Those with economic resources: income, wealth and freedom from poverty.

Credentials:

Those with higher education above high school, occupational status and other qualifications.

Culture:

Attitude, mindset, behavior and self-definitions of what is middle class.

Regardless of the above fluid and convoluted classifications and definitions, the middle class can be defined for this book as anyone who perceives themselves as middle class based on post-high school education, higher standard of living, higher income, higher level of wealth and comfortable living.

The overall acceptable understanding by the majority of individuals in the middle class is that planning ahead is the cradle of their existence and everything that shapes their journey through life. That is, to achieve any goals in life, we need to plan ahead. My teacher would always say to me: Fail to plan, plan to fail; evidence shows that those with any plans do better overall compared with those who do not plan or those with inadequate planning. However, the most challenging aspect of life for many of us is the ability to recognize our responsibilities to ourselves and the difficulty in accepting our obligations at an early age.

The beginning of progress to the middle class is to possess the knowledge to know, accept and internalize the knowledge we acquire, to shape our lives and become the best we can be.

Other suggestions that will be discussed throughout this book for attaining the middle class and beyond will include but are not limited to: early acceptance, early commitment and the discipline necessary to stay focused so that individuals can achieve their goals.

The roadmap to this endeavor consists of planning, how to plan, how and when to set goals and the knowledge to think independently. Individuals must also possess the mindset to recognize that everyone can achieve whatever they set their mind to. For example, anyone who finds themselves without adequate support can even do better by themselves with determination and resolve. In short, the driving force for individuals to make a positive and progressive difference in their lives is to know what they ought to know at the appropriate time. Timing is everything.

Most of the time, we neither see the trees nor the forest when we look into our future. Unfortunately, many of us are besieged by ignorance and ineptitude due to a lack of guidance, support and a discouraging environment we found ourselves in. For example, why did I have to walk ten miles to the farm with my grandfather, five days a week, in my village at the age of ten, when my grandfather could have purchased a used bicycle for me on credit giving me the ability to bring our farm products to the market, three-fold? We could have paid off the bicycle loan from the first harvest. We could have had a competitive advantage. We could have been rich. But at the time, I didn’t know that I deserved to have a bicycle to increase production. I thought and accepted that the son of the village chief who had a bicycle was the only human being that God Almighty blessed to have a bicycle and nobody else. Productivity and efficiency were not in my thought process.

The environment plays a role in our perceptions. Furthermore, why can’t some of us these days do odd jobs or create our own jobs after graduation as we wait for those good jobs we went to school for? Why can’t we improve upon what our parents already built instead of criticizing them for not doing enough by our own standards?

What’s more, many of us do not have an inkling about the forest either. Otherwise, why can’t all students who cannot afford all their college tuition sacrifice and work part-time while in college and use the earnings to pay for books and personal upkeep; instead of taking out maximum student loans to cover college expenses?

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Many students and their parents’ rationale is that student loans are easy and available to obtain. They think that students should live a comfortable lifestyle while in college because college years should be enjoyed to their fullest. Why can’t students who struggle to afford college expenses sacrifice a little while in college and have roommates; instead of obtaining and using their student loans to have a private apartment off-campus? Privacy and the freedom to party at will, all night, every night, with newfound friends is not worth the debts. They wonder why they end up with poor grades during their freshmen and sophomore years. Why can’t students concentrate on schoolwork (only four years or less of sacrifice) to get good grades and take marketable subjects so that they can be set for a better position and better jobs after graduation? After all, this lifestyle and better living can be achieved after college and beyond.

I must ask, why do we all want to attend Ivy League schools and similarly expensive higher education, with an average yearly tuition and living expenses of $50,000 or more?

The fact of the matter is that graduates from these schools become professors and administrators in numerous other schools across the country. Over 50% of the books used in these other, non-Ivy League schools are written by Ivy League graduates, administrators and professors.

If my analysis is correct, there are many great schools across the country and abroad, other than Ivy League. These schools with less publicity and cheaper are just as good if not greater. The point is, these avoidable and unnecessary extra out of pocket expenses can be set aside as part of retirement funds; or towards achieving middle class status. To date, there is no correlation between expensive schools with big names and success in life. Mr. Warren Buffett didn’t even attend the big H northeast.

Why can’t many of us forgo expensive acquisitions temporarily and purchase them later on in life, once we can readily afford them financially and emotionally?

Why can’t many of us wait until the appropriate time to buy whatever we want, instead of following the Jones? When will many of us realize that Buy now and pay later is not for, and does not fit, everyone in this great country for all?

Why can’t many of us put in check the love of passion instead of having babies at an early age without considering the consequences of such actions? The fact is that teenage first love affairs and the freedom to do whatever they want will probably not last for long. What makes sense today may not make sense tomorrow or any other days after the specks in their eyes are removed.

Why do we fall apart and destroy our lives because we were in bad relationships; when there are better days ahead?

Why do we repeat, without much thought, the actions of others we admire whether their actions fit into our agenda or not?

Here are few perceptions of many of us:

Some of us go to college because others do or to please their parents even though they are not ready for college. Many parents and leaders are shouting into the wilderness that going to college is the only way to succeed in life and for everyone, without an adequate understanding of how a college education fits into an individual plan and ability to succeed, even without an economy to absorbe the graduates. For example, very few of us were made to believe that a college education is the only way to get out of poverty. There is more than one way to achieve a goal.

Unfortunately, some will join gangs because it’s cool or because it provides a sense of belonging; joining gangs provides a father figure they never had. Gangs also provide much-needed protection missing from family members; or selling drugs to make quick bucks because to do with less money is much harder or others are admired for doing so.

Some will buy a car because they think they deserve to have a car, as seen advertised all over social media, beckoning to come and get it, even when they knew deep down, they can’t afford one.

Even worse, many of us do not have parents or mentors in our midst, especially early in our lives, to show us how to plan and cope, or manage and live within our means. Some of us do not know how to make do with what we have and how to multiply the little we have. The view, many have at an early age, that I know all the answers can usually turn out to be premature and shortsighted.

The point I am making here is that early preparation and knowledge of what we need to do for life’s journey is the key to success and forward movement. An early right mindset and healthy living will go a long way in shaping the desired future, especially for the middle class.

What’s more, we are ignorant or lack what we need to know early in life to be successful. Many of us do not possess the knowledge to know that we can love ourselves if no one loves us. Instead, we spend the major part of life pointing fingers and complaining full time as a way of life.

Many of us do not know that another way to eradicate poverty is to achieve economic freedom through hard work, responsibility and discipline.

Many of us also do not comprehend that playing the blame game is unproductive and self-defeating.

Many of us do not know that knowledge is an everlasting power and that knowing is achieving by itself.

Many of us don’t know that to be all we can be, requires individual efforts and commitments.

Many of us don’t know that progress may not be easy most of the time, but if we focus and work hard, the end result is sweet indeed.

Unfortunately, these fundamental life realities and understanding are difficult to realize in our developmental years without proper guidance or a supportive environment. This is where good parenting is crucial. This is where knowing and comprehending what we lack and understanding our shortcomings are paramont importance in our journey to the middle class…

A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.

---- Mahatma Gandhi

Objectives of the Book

The book’s primary focus is to convince the other 48% of the population, not in the middle class as of date, to take necessary steps to get them into the middle class. That’s roughly 117,000,000 Americans, according to the 2018 census.

Therefore, the suggestions in this book will enumerate numerous ways individuals must embark upon to improve their lives, like the rest of the 52% of middle class Americans already have. The book will also exemplify an individual’s responsibility on his or her journey to the middle class. The journey to the middle class and beyond is easy with the right mindset and determination.

Most importantly, the book will attempt to resolve an old age recurring expression, I wish I knew then what I know now. The knowledge of foresight is golden. The resolve by the individual to follow that knowledge in order to achieve purported goals is divine. To this end, the book will provide different types and shapes of crystal balls that will allow individuals to look into their possible future.

These suggestions will be divided into three categories:

1. The book will discuss actions and steps that should be taken early in life. An example will be early academic education that will require sacrifices, commitment and responsibilities. Once academic education (high school, college, technical schools) are out of the way early in life, individuals can concentrate on other necessary