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| Sunday, May 04, 2008 |
| There are no short cuts |
Every so often you hear about someone who has received an amazing gift of good fortune. They won a lottery, received a large inheritance, or obtained a job with crazy stock options that have made them millionaires. Basically, through shear luck, they have managed to leap frog into great wealth and early retirement. But these are the rare exceptions. Most of us will never be that lucky.
For the majority there are no short cuts. Getting ahead requires hard work, steady employment, evolving skills, delayed gratification, life-style compromises, spending hours, months, years in jobs we don't particularly like, prudent investing, increasing savings, and on and on. Eventually, if we work hard enough and save long enough, we reach the day where all of our efforts have paid off and we can retire our stresses and worries and support ourselves in our golden years.
None of this is particularly exciting. Nor is it easy. But it has to be done, because if we don't keep plugging away, what are our options? Homelessness? Destitution?
Now try telling the above to a teenager who wonders why you keep advising them to save their money instead of buying a new pair of designer jeans. Or communicating that message to the friend who always looks stylish, but complains that her vacation is in jeopardy this year because her credit card companies will not raise her limits. Most want to believe in and count on the short cuts. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 7:06 PM *
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| 8 Comments: |
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Do you think many kids today just think it's so easy? I teach freshman and am constantly amazed that they think they'll be rolling around in $100 bills after just 4 years of school (in majors that typically require a post graduate degree to get a decent paying job). Maybe they're anticipating a windfall...or that their parents will network them a job. One gal I supervise is graduating in two weeks....just got a job totally unrelated to her major...because her parents made some phone calls. I try to tell them right up front in the first day of class how many years of education they need and how much they'll make. Many of them are shocked! And they shouldn't be....this information should be out there for them.
There are no hand outs!
**BTW....I just added you to my blogroll today...sorry it took a bit**
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Okay, this seems too preachy for a personal finance blog--we all teach more by example, and your example is stellar. There is no need to preach from the pulpit when your actions speak so strongly.
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Exactly. But, you know, saving and spending less than you earn just isn't sexy. It really doesn't sell magazines either.
Kiplinger's cover this month features a story on "8 ways to make a million." The cover features the lady who created the Baby Einstein videos and eventually sold the rights to Disney for millions. Inside, there are 8 stories - 2 of them saved their way to millions over a period of many, many years. I guess that is improvement b/c the last time Money did a similar article, only one person just spent less than they earned.
Sigh.
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I wonder what it is that makes some people more cautious than others. My ideas about money seemed to have been shaped in the 1970's when there were stories of seniors having to eat cat food because they couldn't afford anything else.
Those stories scared the daylight out of me but I seem to be the only one. My parents heard the same stories but it never seem to impact them. They continued their free-spending ways and are now struggling to live off social security. They're making it but they have so many fewer options than they could have had if they had just put a little bit aside instead of only living for the moment.
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There are no short cuts but hard/smart work aren't all there is to it. There are intangibles that can work against you, too. You could suffer a debilitating illness or disability that prevent you from working. You you could marry or partner up with someone who doesn't share your financial philosophy. You could lose your job for a lengthy period of time because the sector you're in takes a dive.
If you're vigilant and meticulous in your financial planning you can overcome these intangibles. But some people don't. Hard work isn't all there is to it.
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I have a friend at work, and she has to have a spring purse and a winter purse every year. I tell her she has nice purses but no money in them. She is always broke. And she's coming into a nice inheritance, and I know it's not going to last.
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I have gotten disillusioned recently with all the gas tax holiday talk coming from two, nameless, presidential candidates. So when your own government can't make hard choices concerning the future, how can we expect Joe Sixpack to chose any better.
My wife and I are saving as much as we can for our retirement just so we have as many choices/options open to us.
Ciao
Western Mass
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You mean "sheer luck": See the adjective form of http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sheer
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Do you think many kids today just think it's so easy? I teach freshman and am constantly amazed that they think they'll be rolling around in $100 bills after just 4 years of school (in majors that typically require a post graduate degree to get a decent paying job). Maybe they're anticipating a windfall...or that their parents will network them a job. One gal I supervise is graduating in two weeks....just got a job totally unrelated to her major...because her parents made some phone calls. I try to tell them right up front in the first day of class how many years of education they need and how much they'll make. Many of them are shocked! And they shouldn't be....this information should be out there for them.
There are no hand outs!
**BTW....I just added you to my blogroll today...sorry it took a bit**