Dr. Beth, I have friends from all walks of life. Rather than surrounding myself with people who are just like me educationally and financially, I have a great variety of friends. Some are professionals like myself, some are in construction or other blue collar occupations and others are “starving artists” and musicians. I don’t see myself as better than my starving artist friends or blue collar friends just because I make more money than they do. However, as we have gotten older it seems like the difference in our financial circumstances has grown larger and larger. I have always had open and honest conversations with my friends in the past, but now I don’t know whether it’s OK to talk about future retirement plans, travel and similar issues or if this is rude and may offend my friends who have less than I do. Your thoughts?
