ING Direct Bright Spots
October 28, 2006
What Bright Spots?
We keep our emergency fund in an ING Direct account and are emailed the ING quarterly newsletter called Bright Spots. The October 2006 edition contained an article titled, “Don’t let debt get the best of you”. Although it does include 7 tips on how to combat debt, the article paints a bleak picture, one that does not seem to offer many “bright spots”:
“The Federal Reserve Board just reported that American consumer debt is now at a record $2.17 trillion. For the first time in history average Americans owe more than they make. ABC News recently reported that in the last decade, while the average family’s income grew by 9 percent, credit card debt has increased 81 percent.”
Forget the Joneses
The newsletter does follow this up with a motivational message from President and CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann titled “Forget the Joneses”. It emphasizes the virtue of saving vs. spending and congratulates ING’s customers on opting for the saving route. The concept is similar to Dave Ramsey’s message, “Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else”. Basically take care of your finances now so you can reap the rewards in the future. At that point, the unfortunate Joneses will be seeing the error of thier ways, and you’ll probably be enjoying life.
Positive Takeaway
I suppose the “bright spot” I take away from this newsletter is that a large company is attempting to raise financial awareness about saving vs. spending and debt levels. The question to ask ourselves: What can we do individually to inform others of the dangers of debt and motivate them to avoid it?
All posts by Ben Edwards
That’s right, baby. Joes and jills nowadays are so deep in debt, they’re wearing cement shoes. The sooner they do the Dave Ramsey thing and deep-six their debt, the better. Thanks for spreading the debt-free word, baby.