This week's Pay Dirt: What to do if your girlfriend feels like you're the breadwinner?

My career has had a couple of huge, lucky breaks, and hers has had long, unlucky droughts.

My income is now orders of magnitude larger than hers.

I'm worried that if we go back to a system where we split everything by the same dollar amount, we will have to dramatically change our lifestyles to live on a shoestring budget.

Ask your long-term needs and wants to make a decision about your career.

Education is a big mechanism for class mobility in the U.S. Think about how you define “middle class” Is it just about income? These are all questions you need to answer to determine what your best path is.