My mom bit me when I was a child.
Sounds harsh, right?
Well, it was because I bit her and she didn’t know how to teach me not to bite people.
So, she figured she would bite me back and you know what?
I never bit her ever again.
In fact, I never punched, kicked, poked, slapped, spit, gouged, scratched, or even stuck my tongue out at my mom again.
Or anyone else.
Kids have to learn the weirdest lessons, right?
But… that lesson stuck with me all throughout my life… and it started from an early age.
This is how a lot of habits start… especially when it comes to money.
We learn something… sometimes without really realizing it… and then we do it forever.
We never examine it until much later (if at all).
Here’s what I mean:
Ever heard of a savings spree?
How about a SPENDING spree?
Why do people routinely go on one, but not the other?
Learned behavior.
More:
Most people who have come to me over the years have one overriding emotion that seems to paralyze them at some point during the financial planning process — fear.
They’re afraid of saving money.
They’re not afraid of spending money.
They’re afraid of saving money… even though savings puts them in a better financial position…
Some of it is the commitment. The day in, day out saving of money. If someone buys life insurance as a way to help them save money… there’s the commitment of premiums and the fact they can’t easily back out of it whenever they want.
Most of the time, the commitment only has to last a couple of years, minimum.
Compare this to the commitment of buying a home on a 15 or 30 year mortgage or taking a $3,000-$5,000 vacation every year.
Why are people so afraid?
There are lots of reasons, really, but that’s probably not suitable for this email.
What’s important to recognize is… if you ARE afraid, you need to find your way out of it…
And if you aren’t afraid, and you want to join others who are saving and making progress towards their goals every month, come hither: