So guess what?
Here comes another government agency to help.
You are so easily tricked and trapped by the fine print,
a credit card agreement, a mortgage loan application
that a Consumer Financial Protection Agency is needed.
It will “give families a chance to take control over their money,
but families will have to be smart” states Elizabeth Warren.
Warren is Chair, Congressional Oversight Committee
and a strong advocate of the agency under consideration.
TIME OUT!
Will someone please show me how any agency or anyone can help you
take control over your money unless you are a ward of the state?
In the same breath, Warren echoes my point…namely that
“PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS.”
I’m for a major rewrite of all manner of financial contracts.
They need to be understandable at the grade eight level where,
regrettably, far too many consumers are conversant.
This still changes nothing when you are faced with a purchase decision.
To spend, save or finance remains the question.
Immediate pleasure or deferred gratification an agency does not rule.
Consumers are no more or less rational than they were in 2008 or 1898.
Having less money, no job and the fear those elicit have worked miracles.
You could be spending less or saving more, depending on how you see it.
No government agency facilitated that change. You did it all by yourself.
But are you inherently different? Has your deeper motivation changed?
I suggest that you are the victim of three hidden motivators.
The first is “Forced Choice”, a hidden motivator where regulation
compels that you spend on fees and services to get the benefits
only conferred by others, like your water, telephone, cable, taxes, etc.
You’re spending is also driven by what nature requires you have.
These are the realities of the human condition…food, shelter, and other basics.
If you have cut back and got frugal it’s most likely around two other motivators.
These I define as Social Choices and Free Choices.
Many of these, too are hidden motivators of your spending because
you are not aware of how they rule the choices you make.
Social choices are driven by convention, informal habits such as
a sense of duty (donating to the poor), fashion ( the latest outfit/style),
and custom (new car every three years).
Many are things you think you ought to do and have.
A dream to fulfill. A passion to satisfy. These are powerful motivators.
Free Choice is another hidden motivator at work on your income.
Your character inspires many of the things you purchase.
This is where impulses are unchained…your creativity explodes.
Putting a lid on these expenditures is tough indeed.
No democratically elected government agency will change any of these.
You are still in control but only just barely (as in rational choice)
until you get these three hidden motivators under your power.
GET THIS RIGHT
Awareness and understanding of “why your money disappears”
is far more helpful than endless navel gazing at where it goes.
You must get this right first. Then control is all yours.
Copyright 2010 William M. MacKay
[ add comment ] ( 2 views ) | permalink |
( 2.7 / 62 )
Calendar
