Excerpt: The middle class is in an economic bind. The savings rate reached zero percent in June 2005. This is not because many households don't want to save more, but because they often can't. Stagnant wages and rising prices have caused families to borrow record amounts of money to make ends meet. Many families' financial situation is actually worse than it appears on paper because the majority of their wealth is in the housing market, which is likely vastly overvalued.