Excuses, excuses! Facing up to why we fail with money
My excuse for failures of discipline in my money life is sleep apnoea.
What's yours?
I reckon we all have excuses for our poor money choices, and often they are lies.
Sleep apnoea is a curse that reduces your energy, and fuzzes your brain. Some respond better to the treatments available than others. But for me, it often feels easier to put off, and put off, things I should do because I feel perpetually tired.
The immediate over-rides the stuff that can be postponed. That review of our insurance cover takes a second seat to attacking the garden hedge. In a way that's a survival mechanism, but it is also an excuse.
The money excuses I hear from others are varied.
My favourite two are: "I'm not a money person" and variations of the pernicious "because I'm worth it/because I deserve it".
I can understand the attraction of defining yourself as not being a "money person", or being "bad with money".
It sides you with the goodies, the lovely people who value people/the arts/nature over things. But it is nonsense in a world where money is ubiquitous.
If you don't want to be a money person, you really have to go and live somewhere like Gloriavale where money has no currency.
The "I'm bad with money" excuse is really an abdication of responsibility. It's an excuse not to find out whether you are in the right KiwiSaver fund, or whether you have adequate insurance.
New Zealand is a money society. There are consequences for frittering your resources and opportunities.
Making a choice not to prioritise earning and saving is a legitimate one. It's a choice thing. Just don't lie to yourself about it. I prioritise time with my girls over a single-minded approach to seeking wealth. That's my choice. But I've still worked, saved, insured and attacked the mortgages I have had since my financial awakening several decades ago, an awakening prompted by the early death of my father.
The "because I'm worth it/because I deserve it" excuse is just as nonsensical as the "I'm bad with money" excuse. They are empty words. Everybody is "worth it" from the child in a poor home to the multi-millionaire.
The question is not whether you are worth it, but whether you can afford it.
That's a tough question. We often interpret affordability as meeting the monthly repayments, which is a mistake. You judge affordability against your future need fo the same money.
You deserve to be able to heat your home when you are 75, but that doesn't mean you will be able to.
The choices you make now, whether justified by excuse or clear-eyed strategy, will play a big part in determining whether you will be able to get your heating desserts at 75.
New Year brings a moment each year to draw a line under the old ways, and to do things better. Instead of making resolutions this year, stop repeating your money excuses over and over again.
Golden rules
- Identify your money excuses
- Stop repeating them
- Make a fresh money start this year
Written by Rob Stock. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.
Related links:
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