Newsletter - Spring 2009

 

 

 

On the other hand, Stanley found that wealth accumulators are not motivated by the trappings of wealth, but by the independence that wealth can provide. Through planning and sacrifice, they achieve a financial status where they can “afford” to choose work based on the level of meaning and purpose it brings to their lives and not by the level of income it provides.

 

 

During a recent interview with a reporter, I mentioned the importance of living on what you earn. To me, this is a no-brainer. It’s the most basic of financial precepts and the foundation of financial health.

 

Her response was both fascinating and frightening. She said something along these lines: “Our popular culture no longer supports the idea of living within your means. At least among celebrities, sports stars, TV shows, and music intended to appeal to the younger generations, living on what you spend isn’t something to admire. “It’s geeky.”

 

In one way, I suppose, this attitude makes a certain amount of sense. “Living large” may seem to be one way of expressing a sense of optimism about your future. Go ahead, put it on your credit card. You’re on the way up; you can afford it—or at least you expect to be able to afford it next month or next year. Yet, all too often, living large for a season can set the stage for subsisting small for the rest of your life.

 

I suspect this kind of pseudo-optimism is based as much on fear as on genuine confidence. Many of us have probably had the experience of feeling pressured to spend more than we could afford.

 

This might be as simple as a one-time incident of going out to eat with other people and ending up at a restaurant too expensive for our budget. We aren’t going to say “Sorry, I can’t afford that,” because it would set us apart from the group in a tremendously uncomfortable way.

 

On a larger scale, our society has spent so heavily on perishable pleasures in recent decades that many of us have developed a distorted sense of what “average” or “normal” should be. We feel a strong need to have the right clothes, cars, and lifestyle so we fit into a group that appears to be increasingly affluent. Saying no to that pressure may feel the same as admitting, “I’m not good enough. I don’t belong.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Everything You Know about Money is Wrong, Karen Ramsey wrote about the importance of making sure your financial life supports what is most important to you:

Therefore, it is important to remember that money can act as a tool for achieving your goals, but financial resources alone cannot produce the essential ingredients of a rich and rewarding life such as happiness, good health, loving relationships, and meaningful activities.

 

As you plan for your future, it is essential to identify and visualize the various components you want to include in your life composition. In fact, the greater your understanding of what is truly important to you, the easier it will be to “paint a picture” in your mind of what you want to achieve and experience.

 

The clearer your vision for the future becomes, the easier it will be to move toward that image in a purposeful way. As you intentionally and progressively “make room” in your life for what is most important to you, your sense of satisfaction and fulfillment will multiply. This perspective will not only help you to “keep your eye on the prize,” but also help you to recognize the influences of choices you make today on your quality of life in the years ahead.

 

Always keep in the mind that the essence of “true wealth” is the wisdom to live your life—now and in the future— in a way that supports your values and priorities.