How to Tell if You Enjoy Your Job or if It’s Just a Paycheck

Do you love your job? Or has that honeymoon phase of your first job out of college transitioned instead to a dull and monotonous everyday chore? When asked what you do, do your eyes glaze over momentarily before you desperately try to change the subject? Are you going places in your career? Or just cashing it in?

If doubts—whether small or substantial—about your job are becoming a more frequent part of your daily life, perhaps it’s time to really reflect on your situation. Continue Reading

40% of Workers Live Paycheck to Paycheck, Down From 46% in 2008

Fewer American workers are reliant on their next payday to make ends meet, according to a new survey. Forty percent of workers report that they always or usually live paycheck to paycheck, a slight decrease from 42 percent in 2011. This year’s figure marks a recession-era low, continuing a downward trend from a peak of 46 percent in 2008, during the early days of the financial crisis.

The nationwide survey – conducted between May 14 and June 4, 2012 among more than 3,800 full-time workers – found that a majority of those currently living paycheck to paycheck (53 percent) were not doing so until 2008. Additionally, 37 percent of workers say they sometimes live paycheck to paycheck, while 23 percent say they never do. Twenty percent of workers were unable to make ends meet at least once in the last year.

Workers making at least six figures are feeling more confident in 2012. Twelve percent of workers who earn $100,000 or more always or usually live paycheck to paycheck – trending down from 14 percent in 2011 and 17 percent in 2010. Continue Reading