O.K., so Michael Becker's woes won't bring tears to your eyes, but there's no need to snicker. Becker, 29 and single, works as a broker for Kidder Peabody on Wall Street. He earns a six-figure salary, likes his restaurants expensive and vacations in Africa, French Polynesia, Australia and London. This week he was scheduled to close on a loft apartment, but last week found him on the phone, pleading with his lawyer to extricate him from the contract. "I even told the shoeshine boy, 'I can't afford a shine today,' " he laments.
In the giddy rise of the stock market,...
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