I just watched the second Oprah “Debt Diet” show. I continue to be struck with how these folks are in denial. hey have all this top quality help and they still aren’t taking it very seriously. They are acting like children who don’t like the adult telling them what to do. I don’t think they’ve truly come to terms with the mess that they are in.
I am so happy that Oprah is doing this. Statistically, the light bulb is going to go off in some percentage of her audience’s heads. Just like people who browse these personal finance blogs and decide to make a change for the better, Oprah will also have this effect. (And the sheer mass of viewers make her show far more of an impact than these blogs).
My wife and I sat here together and watched the show this evening. Earlier this week, I used the online Tivo scheduling just to be sure we didn’t miss the show. (First time I’ve ever Tivo’d Oprah). I wish the show was 3 hours long. It’s fascinating to me to watch these families. When I see them, I see similiarities to so many people I know. I know that I don’t have the experience that these “experts” that are on Oprah do, but I do know that I could generate a plan like this for some of my friends to help get them straightened out, but unfortunately, our society doesn’t talk about money openly. I can’t just walk over to my neighbors and say, “Hey, based on our situations, I think I might know a bit more about how to get you financially secure than you do, and I’m here to help.” I’d probably risk getting popped in the mouth. So, I will sit here silently and just hope that they happen to catch the Oprah show, or some other experience causes them to look within themselves and realize that they are their own worst financial enemy.
I still think back to the 20 year old kid that came to me and asked me for some financial advice awhile back. He just soaked up what I had to tell him. He was hungry for some of the most general financial information because he had never had an opportunity to learn it from his parents or his schools. Simple things like compound interest, the rule of 72, dollar cost averaging, spend less than you make, pay yourself first, and never carry a credit card balance.
All these material things that we continue to amass just saddle us and take away our options in life both today and tomorrow. The 22? “bling bling” wheels for your car that cost $4000 aren’t going to take care of you when you are old and sick. The $2000 car stereo system isn’t going to change your Depends diaper when you are 90. The 5 vacations you take each year aren’t going to pay for your housing when you are too old to make a living. The $3000 big screen TV isn’t going to feed you when you are 80 and hungry. $250 sun glasses? They’re just going to break. Do $250 sunglasses offer you 10 times the benefits of a $25 pair? Are they 10 times easier to find when you lose them? Are they 10 times less likely to break when you sit your big butt on them in the car?
Okay. I’ll stop.
well these are choices that everyone needs to make. do you want to invest in your future or do you want to buy clutter that makes you feel good for a short while. my networth is about 7 times my annual salary and yet I drive a 7 yr old car & watch a 19 inch 8yr old TV. Would I like a brand new plasma?? yes, but i can’t see any advantage other than having to pay extra for digital cable. I had a few thousand dollars extra so I recently bought some gold coins. they’ve already appreciated 10% in 3 months. not as much fun as a TV, but a far better investment.
I caught the second Oprah episode (missed the first) and was also struck by the attitude of the participants at first. But then I realized why Oprah’s show picked these particular families – they make good tv. So far I am finding it interesting that the women are so vocal and expressive while the men are generally silent and don’t seem to be as involved. We shall see if this changes over time, right now they all seem a bit shell shocked at how many people in the US (and now worldwide) know how deeply in debt they are. Coming out of your debt closet to close friends and family is difficult, I can’t imagine doing the same to the world on tv.
I agree with your assessment of the families on Oprah. I don’t give them much of a chance to succeed. For the one family, cheating the same afternoon as the meeting with the financial guru, how outrageous! And 5 vehicles for a family with maybe 3 drivers, are they just crazy? Sometimes it takes a major event, other than bakruptcy, to change your mind about your spending. For one of our sons it was when his car was stolen and ended up in a chop shop in the next state. The insurance company would not give him the “full” value of all the stuff he’d added to his car. Ended up losing about $5000 worth of “improvements”. Changed his whole outlook on what was a need and a want, now the needs are all he spends on.
I must admit, I have to agree with Barry G. The financial industry wants 20 year olds thinking about retirement! “Save for your retirement now and you will have a gazillion dollars when you retire.” Of course they want you to start saving immediately. The sooner you start saving, the sooner the financial industry earns commissions from you.
There has to be balance in life. I am not saying that you should go out and spend money, max out your credit cards, use your house as an ATM, etc.. Of course not. You have to live within your means. You have to plan for your future. Just don’t pinch pennies so hard that you are waiting 40 years to start living.
Life is too short. Enjoy yourself along the way.
Perhaps most people rather enjoy these things while their young and able. When your old and your senses are shot what good is all that money you saved up for?
I know several people who are now retired with several million saved up over the years( by penny pinching, not taking risks), I can say they are miserable and make most people around them miserable as well. While others with much fewer, are perfectly happy and light up everyone around them. I feel like the whole penny pinching method of saving is just a means to defer your potenial to be great for a time when you can just get by.
Obviously you should enjoy life now. Moderation is the key. The sooner you start saving a percentage of your income and make intelligent purchasing decisions, the better of you’ll be. You can save money in Roth IRA’s and contribute to mutual funds without paying a bunch of fees. Even if you pay a fee, you are still better off in the long run than having not saved at all. Thanks for the comments.
Money doesn’t have to be just for consuming things. I find great enjoyment and security by having money invested and working for me. I really don’t care if I come to that final day of my life and realize that I didn’t spend it all.
Hazzard
This is the attitude that one of my coworkers has. He’s 40 years old, has no savings, makes about 20k/year more than me, but I’m able to save 10% in my 401k, plus about 1k/month in my brokerage account. I also have more kids than him so my fixed expenses are higher.
He tells me that he wants to enjoy life and he doesn’t want to save, and he thinks government will bail him out when it comes time to retire.
I definitely try to have a healthy balance. When I think of my college days and my 20s, I don’t rememer the high tech gadgets I had, or my TV or that 500 dollar suit, or $50 dinners, but I remember the good times me and my friends had.
This could be a roadtrip where we shared gas and motel rooms, camping trips which are also very cheap but very fun, snowboard trips which were a little more expensive, and bachelor parties in vegas which were the most expensive but definitely worth it. :-)
When we went snowboarding we’d go to a grocery store as soon as we came into town, then we’d leave the food outside the window sill to keep cold. Another time we stayed at a hostel which was great. We had so many different characters in our room it was a blast. We could have never matched the experience if we stayed in a $500/night room.
So even though I’m considered to be ultra cheap, I have more than enough good memories and I dont think I missed out on anything.
Anyone know where this can be downloaded?
Oprah. Isn’t. About. Balance.
The two families I’ve seen so far (in Part 2 of the series) are idiots. I’m calling it like I see it. They’re on there because, as Jane commented, they “make good TV.” Their situations have NOTHING to do with “living life to the fullest while you’re young enough to enjoy it.” Their situations are case studies in financial ineptitude, self-indulgence, and shortsightedness. It’s to a degree that (almost) has me wishing that Oprah and her Experts for Hire would just leave them on their own — let them eventually be crushed beneath the weight of what they’ve created.
But I can be a hardass that way, I guess. Where stupidity (repeatedly!) rears its ugly head, well, my sympathies just aren’t doled out easily.
Like Hazzard, I revel in these shows. The human behavior they highlight just fascinates me. I’m super-curious to see how Dave Ramsey’s future show on CBS turns out … whenever they get it rolling. I’m also curious to see how David Bach handles his clients in the Oprah gig, mostly because I don’t have a great deal of faith in his “automatic wealth” principles.
Oprah’s “after the show” on the oxygen cable network has a 3rd half hour of part 1 in the series. They’ve played it over the weekend.
They can go out and buy all the plasma tvs they want. It’s all going on OUR tab anyways. When they are old and unable to work or support themselves, it’ll all be billed to us in the name of compassion. Frustrating.