The real reason, whether they want to admit it or not, that we’re discussing the fiscal cliff is because people make plans based on the future rather than on the present. A few years ago, I remember the Department Chair coming in and telling me that they were cutting back and that I was on the list of layoffs because I was not vested. “I hope you weren’t counting on that money continuing to come in,” he somewhat inarticulately told me. “No sir, “ I replied, “I only rely on the money that’s already in my account.” Unfortunately, far too many people project their current status indefinitely into the future and spend money they do not yet and may never have. Even worse, almost all of our elected officials are that kind of people.
In essence, we try to borrow money from our future selves. This fiduciary flaw propelled title loan and payday loan and similar companies not only to survive but to expand, as we enjoy now and pay later, hoping that when the bill comes due we’ll have the money to pay for it. Problem is that we continue to spend money between now and then rather than saving it. A friend of mine said the other day that it’s better to sock it away in savings, prepaying yourself in monthly installments so that you can pay in cash. At least that way, although you may have to wait, you don’t have to pay a whole lot more than it’s actually worth and you know you can afford it.
One chief cause for failure and unhappiness in this world is trading what we want most for what we want in the moment. Concomitantly, one key to success is to practice some delayed gratification. You see, eventually, in making withdrawals from future earnings, you find that there is not enough money to pay back those loans let alone purchase things that you need when the future and present merge. Your needs and wants and interests will change at least somewhat over time, and that thing you absolutely must have now will seem very petty in the future, when you realize you traded 48 hours of your life for an electronic gizmo that you destroyed because you sat on it incorrectly.
Ironically enough, this is how politicians create so-called surpluses. They project spending and earnings into the future, without regard for changing circumstances or turnover of Congress, and talk about what “might have been”. Who can say what might have been? Yet, they are prophets about everything that paints them in a good light, and any naysayers are negative Nellies or right-wing radicals. The only real surplus is when, after all the checks come in and all the bills go out, you have money left over before the next fiscal year begins. Surpluses do not last longer than that.
Today’s financial duress comes because long ago, people distal to us in space and in time decided to borrow from us to pay for their whims. Tomorrow, the Congress may repeat that mistake and double down on all of these pyramid schemes and borrow from our children and theirs. Eventually, someone must pay the piper, and it would be arrogant and foolish of us to assume that we will not be the generation to which the bill comes due. We have serious challenges today, and it would behoove us all to follow the Chair’s advice and not count on continuation of cash flow. Who knows what might happen between now and then? Fiscal futures are risky business, and when I want to know about them I don't ask lawyers for solutions. You want solutions? Ask a (bio)chemist.
When you focus on the problem, sometimes it's hard to clearly see the solutions. I am not in the business of problems. I came to make solutions.
No comments:
Post a Comment