On the other hand, my brother and his wife switched jobs often and lived a life of “keeping up with the Jones.” They always complained about not having enough money but then would go out and borrow money for a new car or to take a vacation. That was all none of our business, but we did worry about them.

My wife and I have been very blessed. We both were able to find and keep jobs in our chosen fields and worked through the years without any layoffs, slowdowns, serious illnesses, etc. We made good middle-income wages,

My wife received a lot of guilt from them when we recently took a trip to Europe for our anniversary. Then we began to get comments like, “We wish we could do that,” or, “It must be nice.” And we have heard from a mutual friend that my brother frequently makes remarks about our lifestyle.

Now that they are retired, they are finding that living the high life is more difficult, but the spending continues, along with increased complaints. My wife received a lot of guilt from them when we recently took a trip to Europe for our anniversary.