Episode 1, Six Figure Salary and Struggling Financially

Season 2, Episode 1, in this episode Miko is checking in with listeners about their financial stress, concerns about the economy, government policies, taxes, and the disappearance of DEI programs. She shares her own journey as a first-generation college graduate, six-figure earner, and leader in financial education—emphasizing how income alone doesn’t prevent financial struggle. Despite her advanced degrees and professional success, she too once lived paycheck to paycheck due to poor money management.

She highlights shocking stats:

65% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.

Even 58–78% of six-figure earners struggle financially.

Financial stress deeply affects mental health, contributing to anxiety, workplace issues, and even suicidal thoughts.

Miko stresses the need for a mindset shift over income increase. She discusses the racial wealth gap and urges listeners to break generational cycles of financial instability. Her advice includes:

Creating a spending plan and tracking expenses for 30 days.

Avoiding credit card debt unless it can be paid in full or kept below 30% of the limit.

Paying in cash when possible.

Saving and investing 30% of income.

Building an emergency fund and avoiding lottery tickets, especially given current scandals involving the Texas Lottery Commission.

She encourages listeners to take action—whether through her company (Confident Financial Inc.), a financial therapy session, or just starting small by tracking spending.

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Transcript

What's up, y'all? It's the Influence Her Mindset Podcast. I'm Miko, and I'm your host. What's going on, guys? Here we are, Season two Episode one So let's get it. Hey, so I just kind of want to check in with you guys. Like, how are you feeling about the economy? Like, are you struggling to keep up? Are you, you know, maintaining? Nothing has changed or how are you feeling? Comment below if you are really sick and tired of the changes that's going on with the government. Are we going to be paying taxes with the IRS? Are we going to get a refund next year? What is going to happen? There's no more DEI. So I'm just concerned. You know, America is really struggling right now to keep up. It's like, oh my goodness, there are so many people that are living paycheck to paycheck. It's crazy. You know, one of the things I pride myself in is that I'm a first generation person. I'm a first generation person. college graduate with advanced degrees, first-generation six-figure earner, first-generation career supervisor, and you know what else I am? A first-generation for a leader of change, a leader of change for my family, my friends, and everybody connected to me because I want us to really have a great relationship with our finances, and I don't want people to be living paycheck to paycheck. I'm gonna be really transparent with you here in this episode. I was a six figure earner and I was definitely living paycheck to paycheck. Because think about it, we learn skills about how we're gonna live our lives, like what career you wanna do. So I have an accounting degree, I got an MBA, I've studied financial therapy, forensic accounting, all kind of things like that. 

I'm a certified fraud examiner. But one thing I never learned was when I got all this money that I was making, how do you manage it? Who taught you how to manage six figures? This income, I mean, like I remember at the time I was married and every week or every other week when we would get paid, oh, we had so much money. We was blowing money left and right. Like we was going on shopping sprees. Like, and you know, It just came a point in time where we just had to say, wait, we're spending way too much money because the more money you make, the more you, you know, accumulate expenses. So it is true. Like the more money you make, the more problems. Okay. So I just want to take a minute to just check in with you guys. Do you know any of the statistics for Americans right now that are living paycheck to paycheck? Let's just talk about here. 

Mostly the six-figure earners. I'm going to give you a few statistics. So 65% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. 58% to 78% of Americans earn more than $100,000, and they are living paycheck to paycheck. So that means it doesn't really matter how much money you make or where you fall, whatever At one point in time, you may be in the crossfires of somebody that's living paycheck to paycheck. So I just want to be clear, though, those people that are living paycheck to paycheck, it has nothing to do with the amount of money that you make. It is all about your mindset. I know people making $65,000 a year, and they are doing very well. They live within their means. And they're not living paycheck to paycheck. They're very minimalist. They don't require a lot. I know for a lot of us, we like to wear our wealth. We like to show our wealth. And sometimes that can get us into trouble or, you know, we're spending our paycheck before we even get it. So today, I want to kind of point out that 

Let's not so much focus on the six figures because that is an alarming statistic. I mean, really and truly, you need about $200,000 to live comfortably with inflation and with all the changes that have been going on. But let's just focus on however much money you make. Let's decide today that we are going to change. And we're going to change our mindset first because... we at the influence our mindset podcast, we want to change the mindset that we have grown up with. We are getting rid of all those generational traits that we had growing up, like being at the payday loan place or, you know, going upon something to get some money before our paychecks and, you know, spinning up all the credit cards and maxing them out not paying anything but the minimum balance. 

We are changing that mindset because my goal here is to help you have a healthy relationship with money because you do know money can affect your mental health. When you are living in financial instability, it causes stress, it causes anxiety. How many of you know that when your money is short or your money is funny, you don't feel good? Like I'm in a bad mood if my money is not right. Or I can remember times when me and my husband, we would like have some arguments about money or some disagreements or whatever. And I'm going to work and I'm mad. Like nobody did anything to you at work. So why are you mad while you're at work? But you're constantly thinking about these things and they can have an effect on your mental health. Do you know that most people that struggle with money have the most mental statistics of absenteeism. They're tardy to work. They're tardy everywhere they go. Their focus is off. They don't do so well at work. I mean, you can't concentrate because you're so worried about, oh my God, I spent all this money shopping or I can't wait to get paid. Like, what am I going to do until I get paid? It's Today, we are gonna talk about some ways that you can stop living paycheck to paycheck, okay? So we already talked about how living paycheck to paycheck or just having your money be funny affects your mental health. So 42% of adults say that money negatively affects their mental health. So there's a statistic out there that says if you are having financial problems or issues, it will at some point cause you to have stress, high blood pressure, anxiety. I don't want it to even mention that suicide might be a problem, but it could eventually lead to something like that. 

How many of us know that back in the day, you know, when Enron was around, when those people had committed all those crimes, we had people taking their lives because they just could not deal with the pressure that was coming behind it. So let's take our mental health seriously and let's focus on what it takes to get out of the rat race of being on paycheck to paycheck. Because most Americans really are in danger of running out of money for retirement. They have a lack of savings. The average person in America probably does not have a lot saved up, but I'm going to give you some more statistics. The median bank account balance for a white American is $12,000. The mean bank account for a white American is $80,040. For Black people, The median bank account balance is $2,110, and the mean bank account, meaning the max, would be $13,370. That's alarming to hear such a wealth gap between black and white Americans. So let's decide we are going to get off of the self-defeating wheel of living paycheck to paycheck, and we are going to break this cycle because we're moving out of financial instability, and we are going to move into a stable place in our mental health as well as our finances. So when you get paid, we're not spending the paycheck before it even hits the bank. We are planning before we get paid. Let's talk about how you do that. We are going to create a spending plan. Make a list of all of your expenses. And track them. Track all of your expenses for a whole month. Just find out where the money is going. Get you a spreadsheet or a tablet or whatever you have that you can really look at your bank account, automated bank statement, or just even on your phone, on your app. Just track every expense you spend for a whole month, whether it's groceries, gas, tolls, whatever it is. 

Track it, write it down, give it a price. And let's see, based on what you get paid, this is the amount for your expenses that you spent for a whole month. And even if you don't want to look at that amount or you feel a pressure to do that, I have a financial company where I can help you do that. Just give us a shout, give us a call, make an appointment. Go to www.confidentfinancialinc.com. And we can help you do a financial analysis, financial health checkup. And just give me three months and I can help you get on a right plan. Just make an appointment. You will be surprised how I can show you how to slash some of those expenses so that you can create more money for savings. And really to accomplish the things that you want to do financially. And if you're struggling with identifying those expenses, areas like the financial thieves in your life, you may need to make a session with me for financial therapy because I also do those. If you are struggling in an area, I'm going to help you identify where that blockage is. So again, you can go to www.confidentfinancialinc.com, make a financial therapy session appointment, and we can start to work on some of those blockages with your money. If you are an over spender, compulsive shopper, gambler, workaholic, you work so much but you don't know where your money is going, or you have adult kids and you're always giving the money away, those are underlying issues that we can help you work through to get past that blockage in your life. So let's move into a healing space with our money. 

Let's talk about credit cards. Let's stop spending on the credit cards. Unless you're able to pay off the balance at the end of the month, we don't want you to charge on those credit cards. Unless you can pay down the balance to at least 30%, only leave 30% of the balance on your credit cards at the end of the month. I'm telling you, I can save you a lot of money. Just make an appointment. we'll start slashing some of these expenses. Learn to pay cash. If you can't stay on a spending plan, learn to pay in cash. So if you can't afford it in cash, then maybe you don't need it. Learn to save and invest 30% of your income. You have to start saving for retirement. You have to start creating an emergency fund. Most people cannot pay $1,000 for an emergency because they don't have any savings. Let's learn how to put the money aside for an emergency if we need it. Pay cash, stay on track with your spending plan, and lastly, please, if you don't do anything else with your money, please do not play the Texas lottery. Do not give your money away to the lottery. I mean, I know you're hoping to finally get rich, you know, on this lottery ticket. But did you know the Texas Lottery Commission is under investigation by the Attorney General's office and the Texas Rangers? They have so many scandals of multiple thefts that they can't track. In fact, just on Monday (4/21/25), the chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission, he resigned effective immediately on Monday. It is said that the Texas Lottery Commission will probably have a budget of zero come September 2025. So I'm telling you, with all the investigations that they got going on with the theft and the scandals, you're just throwing your money away because every time you give to the lottery, you take a chance on not getting a return back. And that is really a money thief if you are living paycheck to paycheck, hoping and wishing to get rich. 

Well, I would love to hear your success stories about how you are off the rat race, off the wheel of continual debt. You're not living paycheck to paycheck anymore. Please email us at the Influencehermindset@gmail.com Her Mindset podcast at gmail.com and let us know that you're no longer living paycheck to paycheck. But if you're still struggling, please email. Also, give me a call or make an appointment. Go to www.confidentfinancialinc.com. Make an appointment for a financial health checkup or a therapy session, financial therapy session. Well, that's our show for today. Thank you for tuning in and I will see you soon. Bye-bye.