Why Is Money So Difficult To Obtain?

Getting Rich

For my third post, I decided to open the discussion regarding money. I have had a very successful career to date, with a few employment peaks and valleys ie., see my first post for a brief bio.

Income
I have at one time or another achieved a higher than average income, trading my time for dollars in the process. These jobs were challenging, and in the balance fun and interesting. Now that I am older and somewhat more seasoned, I am trying to re-purpose myself into new entreprenurial endeavors. As an employee, by the time the check was deposited, the monthly budget had absorbed that same amount. It has been stated that in order to break through the glass ceiling of employment, one would need to become self-employed or start a business.

Expenses
Mortgage, two car payments, two school age kids to feed, clothe and additional expenses for sports and social events, and vet bills for the dog, left very little supplemental income for miscelleanous expenses or even a dinner out. Investing was out of the question, even a small amount could not be saved.

Trying Self Employment
In studying the current marketplace, and trying to springboard into a parallel course with respect to my engineering skillset, the multifaceted issues of income, profit and loss, risk, travel, consulting, obtaining clients, keeping clients, taxes and governmental regulations have been studied out.

At this time it would appear next to impossible to find a marketplace that would support our needs. The success rate for new businesses continues to hover below 50% after one year of operations. The failure of a business can be attributed to not having enough living expenses in the bank to provide for the first one to two years before achieving profitability.

Analyzing The Potential
Taking all of this into consideration, including the current price for a gallon of gas, and all of the associated risks versus rewards, makes me just want to seek another day job, and settle for the consequences.

Opportunities
The current marketplace is competitive, with employers wanting ever more technical skills, but not providing the salary and benefits required for the minimum lifestyle. The geographical area we live in, the San Francisco Bay Area, is one of the most expensive in the State of California.

The freeways and public transportation are full of people working at jobs that are barely providing a sustainable income, and the independent truckers must be losing their shirts trying to justify $5.50 per gallon diesel fuel!

Solutions
A friend has suggested a parallel shift into a related engineering space, given that I have expertise which appears transferable, I have sent my resume forward into the unknown.

For me, the nagging question still remains, "Why is money so hard to obtain?". I welcome your responses to this question.