FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) -- America's middle class is having one of the worst financial decades in modern history.
A new study finds income levels have dropped for the first time since the end of World War 2!
You're in the middle class if you make anywhere from $39,000 to $118,000. That's 50% of adults in the country.
And the outlook is not getting better. A financial advisor we talked to said we are not in a recession, but that the economic recovery has been very weak.
In fact, income levels in the middle class have fallen five percent since the year 2000... something Matt Reynolds calls the "lost decade."
That's because the average home has lost one-third of its value, 30% of all mortgages are under water, and your average net worth has dropped 27% because a good chunk of your money is tied up in your home.
And the employment outlook is grim, as well.
"It's very difficult for people graduating from college to find employment. Their degrees aren't in fields that employers are finding valuable. And also, the Baby Boomers aren't retiring. They're not giving up their jobs. They're finding that it makes sense to continue to work when we're in such a fragile economy," says certified financial planner Matt Reynolds.
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