You're expending your hard work on living day to day. You don't have much left for getting you into the future. That's the problem.

In my case, I've been poor but I've also known I had a safety net if I absolutely crashed and burned; either my family, or that of my wife, would find a way to keep me and the kids from starving to death.

Many people do not have that; their families are as poor as they are, or want nothing to do with "those losers".