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It’s a question most of us ask ourselves at one point or another: “How am I doing financially compared to my peers?” While you can’t necessarily base the health of your finances on your friends' bank statements, it's a natural instinct to want to know how you measure up.

And if you happen to be a Millennial, you know how closely the world is watching you, especially when it comes to your career and finances.

Mindfulness and money may not seem like they naturally go together — that is, one is generally associated with  "new age" practices, while the other is more linear and logical.

However, melding the two may yield some surprising results. 

You may think you're drowning in student loan debt if you owe more than the average of $37,172. 

But in fact, there are relatively common cases of doctors, lawyers, and dentists whose $300,000 debt make your debt seem miniscule. For example:

1. The vet who owes more than $517,000.
2. The couple with double law-school debt.
3. The orthodontist who owes $1 million.
4. The couple working to pay down $500,000.
5. The law school graduate who lives on welfare.

If you’re struggling to pay off your student loans, it could be tempting to cash in some of your free time for…well, cash. If you have a car, driving for Lyft or Uber—or both—might seem like the perfect option.

So is it worth it to be an Uber Driver? Maybe. On the high end, some drivers claims to make around $90,000 per year. On the low end, some drivers are barely making minimum wage. Obviously, there are a lot of factors that play into your potential earnings. Let's take a closer look. 

If you're banking on student loan forgiveness, we have some seriously bad news: Your chances of getting your loans forgiven through Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) are slim.

According to recent audit by Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has denied 99% of the PSLF applications that came in over the past year. Why all the denials? A mix of reasons, including:

• Borrowers who are not actually eligible for PSLF
• Borrowers who have not yet made 120 qualifying payments
• Borrowers who were on the wrong repayment plan, and
• Errors on applications.

We've all heard the saying "money doesn't buy happiness." But researchers know that income is indeed associated with happiness. 

According to a recent study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior by Perdue University, people generally need about $65,000 to feel happy, but they need closer to $95,000 to feel financially secure. What may be even more interesting? Having more money than that threshold may actually decrease happiness.