They may lose a great deal of their hard-earned money.

VOA: special.2010.03.14

Frost is not after "easy gold" but rather hard-earned wages.

弗罗斯特不追寻这些轻易得来的金钱而是实在地挣钱。

耶鲁公开课 - 现代诗歌课程节选

"We believe he will be confirmed. There is no doubt there is anger and frustration in this country about the direction of our economy, and about what has happened with excessive risk-taking by big banks, and the American people having to lend their hard-earned money to bail them out.

VOA: standard.2010.01.24