Americans are the envy of the world even though we can still point to a thousand and one things that are wrong with the country. There’s no denying the fact that we have a massive national debt burden, homelessness, unemployment, and that social services are under a strain. Yet, the fact remains that we still have it better than most of the world in broad terms. However, many outsiders would be surprised to find out that their idea of wealthy Americans only shows their perspective about our corporate wealth and it doesn’t necessarily reflect the state of our individual finances. In fact, a recent survey showed that about seven out of 10 Americans (69%) had less than $1,000 in their savings account. This article provides insight into two major reasons our personal wealth doesn’t live up to the expectations of our collective wealth. One of the main reasons most Americans have a poor handling of money is that they don’t set SMART financial goals. Your financial goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based. Any deviation from the core principles of SMART financial goals raises the odds that you’ll fall short of meeting your target. To start with, your finances can’t be healthy unless your income is more than your expenses. Hence, you’ll need to take proactive action to increase your income or reduce your expenses in order to stay smart in your finances. You might decide to reduce your expenses by $100 every month or increase your side income by $50 week by taking on a side gig. Setting SMART financial goals is also applicable to getting loans and getting out of debt. For instance, if you have a poor credit score, you’ll be better off looking for loans with bad credit instead of wasting time and resources chasing lenders who only cater to people with excellent credit. More so, if you develop a strategy for making automatic withdrawals to repay your loans, you won’t have to worry about bad debt. Setting SMART goals could also help you get out of the rat race and build a life of financial prosperity. Buying a lottery ticket every week is not a SMART strategy and neither is hoping that your father’s granduncle from his mother’s side will leave you a $10M inheritance. You’ll need to take stock of your current...