A few nights back my wife and I had a date night. After dinner we went to Barnes & Noble (one of her favorite places) to hang out and browse the aisles of books and magazines. I enjoy taking a look at the investing and personal finance section for new books and ideas for financial planning. However, that night I made an interesting observation that probably sums up why so many people have financial challenges in our nation.
The store was packed with people for the entire hour we spent there and I estimated there were at least 100-150 people shopping during that time. Almost every aisle had at least one person browsing the shelves, but the magazine racks had the most activity by far. As I watched what people were reading or holding you could find nearly every major category: fiction, non-fiction, romance, thrillers, children’s literature, every possible magazine and more. What fascinated me the most however was that during the entire hour I was there not one person stopped and looked in the investing or personal finance section. Not one! Now I’ll agree that investing books aren’t exactly a thrilling read, but with the amount of people I saw in the store that night I figured someone was at least interested in the subject.
Driving home I realized that I shouldn’t have been so surprised by the fact that nobody spent time shopping for financial literature. Statistics say that over 90% of US residents have debt of some kind. Over 60% are buried with credit card debit alone. And perhaps one of the worst stats is that fewer than 30% of US residents could pay their monthly bills if they couldn’t work for 30 days! One bad month and you’re toast is what that adds up to. In a store with 150 people, 135 of which were in debt and/or could not survive longer than a month off the job, nobody took the time to improve their situation. There was more interest in what US Weekly had to say about Brad & Angelina’s life than finding methods to overcoming personal financial crisis. Numerous people were captivated on what would happen to Anna Nicole Smith’s $350 million fortune, but nobody wanted to invest a little time in learning how to build their own fortune (and put it to better use that Mrs. Smith I’m sure).
What I would like to do is challenge people to live differently than 90% of the population. Proverbs calls it “getting wisdom”. Put down People magazine and pick up a Kiplinger a few times a month. Turn off Oprah for a few days and read a little Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach. Start investing into your future, and your family’s future by gaining some financial wisdom and knowledge. Better yet, start putting a few of the principles you learn into practice and watch how it pays off! I guarantee you’ll get more out of it than reading what Paris Hilton ate while in jail.
Money Talk With Gabe 