Trapped in a Lifestyle
I spoke with a friend the other day that said his father, a physician, was still working at age 85. Eighty-five! This made me think of something that seems obvious, yet I really hadn’t reflected on it: Living above your means for many years actually hurts you in more ways than one.
The first way is what we all talk about — The stress you create by playing an endless game of catch-up with your debt. An example of this is strategically juggling due dates for bills and credit card payments in order to make sure you are “covered” each month.
The second way it hurts you is that you can’t save much for the future, or retirement. If you’re always spending for the now. with Instant gratification at the forefront, saving for your “golden years” will be next to impossible. Keeping up with the Jones seem to take priority over any long-term plans or goals.
The third way you are hurting yourself by living above your means is a sad realization late in life that you can never retire because you’ve created and become accustomed to a lifestyle you can’t even come close to maintaining with your retirement savings alone.
Don’t you agree that all three of these scenarios just suck? — Sorry I don’t have a more eloquent way of saying it. I mean who wants to be trapped in a lifestyle hamster wheel? Living above your means is a no-win situation. Doing it long-term or for the majority of your adult life is even worse. It’s really compounding in a sense— and not the good kind of compounding people like to talk about in the personal finance community!
I know you don’t want to live like that. You want something better for yourself. I’ve shared numerous times that living beneath our means has always been a priority to us. I know it’s the way to meet our long-term goals and never be trapped at any point in our lives. I want that for others too!
If you need to get out of this cycle, then start reading, start budgeting, or get a personal finance coach. Make a change...or that wheel will just keep on spinning.