The Enemy Within
While there is still time, do your best to manage your finances and save.
When I watched the movie Heneral Luna, one scene that struck me the most was the one where he said that the enemy is not the Americans but us. When the Americans bought the Philippines from Spain, the Cabinet members of President Emilio Aguinaldo debated about the intention of the new conqueror. On one side was Luna, who foresaw the real intention of the foreigners, and on the other side was one with a hidden selfish agenda. In the end, Luna was killed not by the Americans, but by his own soldiers.
Fast forward to the present, the scenario is still the same. Although there are no debates, a lot of politicians run for office or vie for government appointment because of their personal agenda. During the campaign period, they give a lot of promises, which become empty and forgotten once they are voted into office. Currently, we have the worst traffic in the world, for example, thanks to our politicians. Their main focus is to build more roads but, apparently, the vehicle industry is booming faster than roads are paved. Now they blame the private-car owners for the traffic gridlock when the truth of the matter is that there are more undisciplined public-vehicle drivers on the road.
What does this have to do with personal finance?
In our money management, the situation is not at all different. As the story above illustrates, what makes everything worse is not the external factor. As General Luna said prophetically, it is from within us.
Just a week ago I had a chat with an online friend who asked for an advice. He said that he has a big problem. Every payday, his salary disappears like smoke within days because of gambling. He finds it hard to avoid gambling. His problem started when he was introduced to online gambling via his Android phone. Later, his friends encouraged him to go with them to the casino. Since then, he was unable to resist the urge to gamble to the point that even his emergency funds were gone. His problem now is how to fight himself, particularly his uncontrollable desire to gamble.
Here are some suggestions on how to overcome your greatest enemy, which could be yourself.
1. Have a paradigm shift.A change in mind-set is often very difficult to achieve. Even for those newbies who attended a personal-finance seminar, it is often difficult to have them change their behavior after just one sitting. A recommendation is to have a mentor/coach who can monitor you in the same way that a doctor does in treating his clients who wanted to be cured of their addiction. By having a coach/mentor, you will have someone with whom you are accountable to.
2. Pretend. Instead of gambling money away with 100 percent no return, why not save up and invest and pretend that the money has already been gambled away. Both ways leave you with no money in your pocket, but the latter can guarantee that you will have some money for your future.
3.Avoid malls. Ignore the word “sale” as this will only tempt you to buy things that you do not need. Don’t be tempted by a 50-percent discount. Better still, shy away from malls during a sale period unless you have something that you really need to buy. In this case, before going to the mall, make a list of the things that you need to buy. Otherwise, be content to just window-shop. This can be done, as I did in the past. I enjoyed looking at the beautiful things on sale but I never bought any item. The best antidote to splurging is to leave your credit card at home and bring just enough cash. This gives you no way to splurge even if the urge is there.
4. Begin with the end in mind. If you think far ahead into the future, you will be able to realize that you need to do something today. Otherwise, you will have a financial disaster later. This is guaranteed, and because we will all grow old, the worst thing that can happen is for you to outlive your money. Remember that the only person who can help you in your golden years is the younger you who knows how to practice financial discipline.
While there is still time, do your best to manage your finances and save. If you do this, you are more certain to enjoy your financial freedom in your golden years.
Edmund Lao is a Registered Financial Planner of RFP Philippines. A sales engineer by profession, he is an advocate of financial planning.
Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/the-enemy-within/
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