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Years ago, my friends and I got a kick out of a cigar commercial that aired a lot during New York Met games. Here is one iteration of that marketing campaign:
Now it’s time for a lesson. Let’s substitute the White Owl pitchman with a pitch person who represents the biggest commercial interests in America today. And while we’re at it, let’s substitute the commercial’s targeted cigar smoker with the average American schlub.
Here’s how our new commercial would go:
Sooner or later, you’re going to buy one of our products or services. And when you do…we got you.
Maybe we’ll get you with a shiny new F-150, impressively festooned with upgrades and accessories, and featuring only 72 months of super-easy payments.
Or maybe we’ll get you with a liberal arts degree from an expensive northeastern college.
Or maybe we’ll get you with a daily Starbucks habit or a premium cable channel.
But you know we’re going to get you. It’s just a matter of time before you’re a debt slave to us, living paycheck to paycheck and wondering what the hell happened. Ho, ho, ho.
The New Tyranny
For most of man’s history, the physically strong plundered the physically weak. But thanks to Western Civilization in general and the United States in particular, the notion that the physically weak have inalienable rights that the physically strong must respect took root. So today in the developed world, instruments of plunder such as serfdom, slavery, and apartheid are universally reviled.
But this hasn’t meant the scourge of plunder has gone bye-bye. Today, the financially strong—those who know how money works and use their above-average discipline to make a lot of it—have replaced the physically strong on the plunderer side of the equation, and the financially weak—those who don’t know how money works and are saddled with below-average discipline—have replaced the physically weak on the plunderee side of the equation. The financially strong thus figured out something rather ingenious: Why deal with the messy complications of owning a human being outright when you can deal with the trivial complications of owning his or her paycheck instead via debt-fueled consumption?
How to Become Financially Wise and Disciplined
When I was a young man, I had below-average financial skills and below-average discipline. Unsurprisingly, being financially weak didn’t do me much good. I had a crummy job, a crummy love life, and a crummy net worth. I was a classic paycheck-to-paycheck loser. The financially strong had no doubt “gotten” my ass.
But all that began to change in my late 30s. Something clicked, and I realized that being a beer-swilling slob wallowing in debt wasn’t the path to a fulfilling life. By the time I was 45, the worm had turned. I was financially wise and very disciplined, and my new-found financial strength was earning impressive dividends. I was married, completely debt-free, and impervious to the “gotcha” traps of the financially strong.
Life in America today is indeed the “best of times” and the “worst of times.” For the financially strong, life is promotions, travel points, and dinners with friends at trendy restaurants. For the financially weak, however, life is stagnant wages, late fees, and dreary highs courtesy of the local dive bar.
The good news is that you have a choice. The financially strong pretty much leave other financially strong people alone. Their plundering is almost completely reserved for the financially weak. So if you’re currently a plunderee, you can change that rather quickly by upping your financial game and upping your discipline game. And here are six books to show you how.
Three Books to Up Your Financial Game
Three Books to Up Your Discipline Game
Final Thoughts
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. What say you? Are you currently a plunderee? Have the financially strong “gotten” your ass? Or have you mastered the arts of money and self-discipline? Let me know how you’re managing the new tyranny when you get a chance. Peace.
My favorite line in the whole article: “The good news is that you have a choice. ” If only more people knew and believed that. It’s just easier to deny.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad was the first book I read and it inspired me to earn passive income and not rely on social safety nets that others are responsible for keeping financially solvent.
The Dave Ramsey and JL Collins books are nice too. I can’t say I’ve read the other, but I’ve listened to some of Jocko’s talks about ignoring distractions.
My biggest advice (from personal experience) is not to withdraw from your 401k unless absolutely necessary–a true financial emergency where you need money now to avoid larger financial repercussions later.
The income taxes and the 10% early withdrawal penalty can be harder to estimate than you think and tax surprises are not fun when you don’t account for jumping into a higher income tax bracket.
From one former beer-swilling slob wallowing in debt to another, I agree. Being a plunderee, especially during the economic fallout related to this pandemic would be terrible. If this had happened 15 years ago, I would have been sweating my ridiculous SUV payments, my bloated mortgage, the credit card debt, not to mention my receding hairline.
Now, although I’m concerned about the well-being and safety of my family, friends and fellow humans, I don’t sweat the financial stuff. It’s a beautiful thing and, as you pointed out, it’s not that complicated to achieve.
Me too if this had happened about three years earlier.
Your links to books are broken
GREAT reading list in this post. Will be sharing with others for sure. Thanks!!