I was chatting recently to a group of girlfriends, some I know well, some just acquaintances, and one of the topics of conversation that came up from one of the acquaintances was how she envied the couple X as they had just acquired a new house and had returned from a very expensive overseas holiday etc etc and I stood, not saying anything but thinking how naive this lady’s comment was. I knew exactly who she was talking about and I knew that her assumptions were, sadly, a long way from reality. In fact, it was quite the opposite reality.
If there is one thing I have learnt in my so-far 50 years of life is that one should never assume a person's wealth nor poverty by the size of the house they live in, the holidays they take, the car they drive, nor the clothes they wear especially in this fragile economic climate. The world's economic status is so precarious that real wealth can only really be determined by, at the end of the day when you sell your assets off and pay off your debt, is what you have left held in your hand.
Here is a story I can share with you. I was invited to attend an auction at one of London’s prestigious auction houses. Art was the subject of interest and let me make it clear that I was simply a guest, not there to bid. Whilst perusing the collection of interested parties gathered for a particular piece of art, a Dutch Masters painting found in someone’s attic after the passing of a loved one and found to be of incredible worth, I noted the finery most were dressed in. There was one person, however, whom quite frankly I thought belonged in the storage rooms, as she was dressed in a shell-suit, which looked like it had come from an op shop and she looked as if she was ready to go for a jog around the block. I later discovered that this lady, was indeed one of the most wealthy human beings walking the planet and who ended up procuring many fine pieces of art that day, worth a king’s ransom. The moral of this story.....don’t judge a book etc etc.
I often think of this lady, the garb she wore that day and how clearly, she was not out to impress anyone. She had me fooled! She didn't need to impress anyone and had nothing to prove to anyone. Fantastic!
Whilst reading a financial magazine late last year, the author of a particular investment article was advising what the best investment ventures were at that current time. Interestingly, property in Australia was certainly not high up on their list, nor, understandably investing in shares (apart from blue chip companies.) No, indeed, they offered a very interesting suggestion to invest in U.S. property. That is correct. They even had a photo of a house, 3 bedrooms I recall from memory, which was originally purchased for somewhere approximately $US350,000 (remembering this was before the greenback fell and pre GFC, so it would have been originally purchased for approx $AUD800,000+ give or take a few thousand.) The same house was now on the market for $US65,000, and remember the Australian dollar equalled and may have minimally surpassed the value of the greenback at the time the article was published so it is worth $AUD65,000, give or take a few dollars. Incredible! Yes, they were urging us to purchase property overseas in the great US of A " for a song" and I believe this is still being suggested. Who would've thought?
However, I have digressed slightly from my original topic of what is really a naive mindset some people have of wealth and how envy seems to be the underlying factor in so many circles. Ladies, you will have all experienced the female insecurities as you walk into a social setting and the ladies, and so too many of the men, "eye" you up and down before the routine salutation is offered. Is it Givenchy? Is it designer? Never in my case as the only time I would go so far as to by a designer outfit to don would be for my child's wedding. However I am guilty of having the 'Imelda Marcos' shoe fetish, especially during my nursing days when I was known for picking up a bargain or two in the designer shoe shops every other pay day. Those days, sadly, are long departed though I do manage to procure the odd pair now and again.
The point I am trying to make, readers, is that we are ruled by a world of media telling us to buy the best car, the biggest house, the most expensive clothes, eat at the most expensive restaurants if you want to be noticed and for what! It is not for OUR personal financial gain. Good grief how could it be? No. It is simply so that that car manufacturer, that designer or that five star restaurant accrues your hard earned monies (and this is going to hurt a lot of you but you and I know that once those credit cards appear, or that bank is contacted for that car lease/purchase, that money is your DEBT.) Oh yes, I can hear you say, 'oh but it is a good investment!' Property, yes. Expensive cars, no. They depreciate by a massive percentage the second you drive it out of the dealership.
Come on people. Let's get off that cycle of "keeping up with the Jones'" (who are fictional characters anyway), drop those " if only I could afford" laborious and pathetic banter and look around you and tell me what really and I mean REALLY makes you happy. Is it that fabulous husband who is working his butt off simply to pay off the interest on that collection of credit cards you have accumulated over the years just to keep up with the Jones' and is so fed up with it all, he is cranky, exhausted and hasn't laughed in what seems to be a lifetime? Or is it that amazing lady who holds down a job, is a fabulous wife and mother, a great homemaker and who is so exhausted, she falls into bed each evening often not being told what an incredible human being she is! Or is it those amazing children you bought into this world, gazing at them lovingly whilst they ignore you both completely because they a so engrossed in that IPod, iPad, X-Box, bla bla bla you bought for them on those bloody credit cards?
If you haven't been listening to the media for the last three years and how that "American Dream" of wanting to have everything, clearly isn't working for those who own the star spangled banner. The ones who led us into the GFC due to their lack of financial legislation, whose housing market has gone down the shoot and who's unemployment is through the roof, then where have you been?
You don't get everything you want in life! Did your mum and dad not tell you that repeatedly whilst you were growing up? Mine sure did and so did theirs. So tell your children that too. I tell mine repeatedly. No it is not appreciated but I stand my ground and still have the one credit card I acquired when turning 18 and my limit has never changed since the year the bank gave it to me. It's cash or I don't buy it. Yep, I am a simple girl with simple tastes and appreciate everything I have every day. No, I may not end up being Australia's answer to Warren Buffet, (who I might add went from a worth of $US58 billion to $US37 billion in 2 year period due to the GFC) but then may be I will! He still buys some of his suits from Wal-mart and that says "normal" to me.
Stop envying those around you and getting down on yourself or your partner just because you don't have the latest Mercedes Benz or can't afford to go on that holiday to the Maldives, because what you really have no one can afford. Health and happiness and may be a credit card to buy those eBay bargains on line is all we need. It doesn't get any better than that! No one has everything, not even those Jones' and not even that shellsuit-clad lady I saw at the auction. Trust me, I know a number of them!
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