Never needed to save, why now?
I often get frustrated when people in my life can’t see that if they don’t stop doing a certain action, it will eventually affect everyone around them. I have a friend named Marcus who doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of saving money.
Like many other Americans, Marcus goes paycheck to paycheck but doesn’t see anything wrong with that. Like everyone else, he spends money on crap he uses for a short term and then it collects dust. We’ve had many talks about allocating a small percentage to savings, but it’s not getting through.
The process has taught me that this type of “never then, never now” thinking is common. You don’t think about drowning if you’re not drowning, but then you drown and there ain’t much you can do.
Marcus has never needed to save them, so there’s never a need now. But it hits all of us in the face if we’re not careful.
The psychology of it
My uncle thinks car insurance is stupid. He has never had an accident and his reasoning is why should I pay hundreds of dollars when all I do is go the grocery market and back? I explained to him that it’s just in case anything happens, you can be covered.
His rebuttal was basically that of how the price would increase more after the accident. In his 70 years of living, no accidents. He then joked that if his car was totaled, then he’d just use his bike.
The psychology of never then, never now allows people to double down on things. The longer things haven’t happen, then the more belief they have that it won’t.
Sure, it’s not evidence and science-based, but a lot of what we do is based upon feel and emotions. It’s irrational, whether we like it or not.
That’s where I got wrong with Marcus, I was trying to be rational with irrationality. That doesn’t mean he’s wrong or right, I was just trying to fit a square peg into an oval hole.
We’ve all tried to help someone change their ways only to find out that it’s extremely difficult to get someone to change. Actions and thoughts are parallel with each other and if someone is set in stone, you either need to move mountains or have a life changing moment to get them to change.
Does it need change?
I grapple with the idea that do people need to take action to change even if it’s proven to work. It’s no secret that if you save a bit of money, you can use that for other things later down the road. But, if someone’s happy with their current life, does it need any change?
At the moment, the answer is no. But once other people starts getting involved, you’re now stuck in a hole. You’re fine to do whatever when you’re single, but when you’re in a relationship or have kids, you not only have to worry about your future but theirs as well.
Everything doubles or triples when you add one or more people in the equation. Now, all of a sudden, you wished you saved more and sooner.
It starts to look like insurance — you may not have needed it now, but on a rainy day, you have the option to use it.
So the point isn’t if you need to change or not, it’s giving yourself the option of having that freedom in the future.
I’ve also seen cases where friends are so fixated on saving that they don’t get to enjoy anything. No vacations, no splurges on hobbies — it’s almost a life devoid of fun.
Their reasoning was to continue to keep saving for the next big thing like a wedding, children, retirement, and such. If that cycle continues, I don’t think that’s a healthy way to live life.
It’s like being on a strict diet your whole life and never eating out. Yes, it’s important to maintain discipline, but your physique won’t change if you ate like crap for a week or two.
There are older people that have never saved a cent in their life and are happier than anyone I’ve ever met. They go paycheck to paycheck but they don’t mind it. Not sure if I can live like that or deal with that risk, but we have to find what works for us.
The take-home message might be unconventional but if it works for you, keep doing it.
Not all advice works for everyone, and you’re by no means obligated to live like someone else. Just understand the consequences and don’t blame anyone else for your actions.
Marcus doesn’t have any plans to save money, but it’s hard to calculate how much more happy he is than other people I know.
Perhaps that’s a life worth living.
*Check out my last article on Aiming for simplicity*
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