Comments on: Why Are Some People So Ignorant About Money?

By: Hunter

Hunter — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 02:20:05 +0000

I happened to find your blog and this discussion when I did a Google search for : When smart people do stupid things.
I consider myself smart, but have been pretty stupid with money. I’m not one of those over-consumers who are deep in credit debt, but I have spent most of my adult life on a financial roller coaster. Being freelance, my income has always been different each year. One year might be $60K, the next year only $11K, and then the next year $85K. I spend what I make, maybe I just didn’t get the “savings” DNA that others have.
I won’t bother you with my entire working life-story, but here’s an example: I worked on the crew of a popular TV series and did well. When the show got re-newed by the network they fired all non-union workers, including me. (Don’t get me started about motion picture industry unions…).
The next year I didn’t have any work, but lived well off of savings, traveled a lot and spent it all. If I was a boozer, druggie or casino addict, it would be easier to pin-point why I went broke.
The punch line: When I was near-broke and living out of my car, I still managed to go to a sidewalk cafe every morning and have my good coffee, read the NY Times and then go to the cinema.
Question: Are my tastes too high for my income? That broke “me” I described was simply having the same coffee, newspaper and a movie that the $85K a year “me” enjoyed.
Any tips on how to break the cycle? To simply be told to “Watch the nickels & dimes and then the dollars will take care of themselves”, is hard advice to take if you have no nickels or dimes at present…

By: David Wilson

David Wilson — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:01:52 +0000

Thanks for the post, great information. People forget that making small changes can make a huge difference in their overall financial status.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:35:19 +0000

High schools really need to get with the program and teach basic financial fundamentals. The earlier the better, but they just HAVE to do it before a student graduates.

By: Beef Up Your Financial Education and Be Prepared @ The Roundup

Beef Up Your Financial Education and Be Prepared @ The Roundup — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:02:54 +0000

[...] Money Smart Life: Unfortunately, not all of us are whizzes with money, and for some of us, money just doesn’t hang around long enough to be a fixture in life. Here are some reasons why that could be the case. [...]

By: Weekly Roundup - Early Thanksgiving Edition | Cash Money Life

Weekly Roundup - Early Thanksgiving Edition | Cash Money Life — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:01:25 +0000

[...] Why Are Some People So Ignorant About Money? I don’t know, but here are some probable reasons. This is a great article about recognizing some of the fears and excuses associated with money. [...]

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Presenting The Carnival Of Personal Finance #125 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:46:19 +0000

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By: Journey

Journey — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:01:37 +0000

There’s also the Historical Factor which you have overlooked. Credit and store cards, car loans, amortized loans, securitizations options, hedge funds, mutual funds, etc. are all finanical products that were developed in the last 40-50 yrs. Each of these products have evolved to a highly complex product that takes a good deal of financial education to truly understand the impact on person’s finances. It is part of the reason why we find ourselves in this sub-prime mess.

People, who didn’t understand, and who were fearful, or overwhelmed or careless, or stupid, allowed themselves to be talked into pie in the sky loans, with no money down, that provided an immediate home equity lines of credit, leaving the owners (unbeknownst to them) with no asset valuation in the house, and then got shocked when they couldn’t refinance as they were originally led to believe.

Now Congress, and a number of states, are looking into saving our heavily devalued pension plans by propping up the investment banks (one of which I work for) so these firms don’t collapse and send our economy to hell. How do they plan on propping up investment banks, Well, several state senators across the country have proposed some interesting taxes on the general population in order to ensure banks don’t go belly up.

I guess you and I will be paying for this for decades to come!

By: Personal Finance Review - Save While You Can Edition » Money Smart Life

Personal Finance Review - Save While You Can Edition » Money Smart Life — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:39:14 +0000

[...] Zook: Like Moneymonk said, I think…Shadox: It is amusing (ok, not…Zack N: This is actually something that…Ben: Michael, I know what you…One Frugal Girl: I feel your pain. I… [...]

By: Zook

Zook — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 04:51:30 +0000

Like Moneymonk said, I think many feel it is boring and don’t have goals in life. Sounds harsh, but I think it is spot on.

If you are 21-years of age, do you run up to friends at a party and show them your new iPhone or do you tell them you just saved and bought two shares of Apple? I think for two many folks, having something tangible betas having/owning the company.

If only youngsters [and I am 27, but I am old] could get it in their thick skulls, that if they simply saved a a couple thousand a year from 18-22 when it is damn near impossible to save anything, they would already have a solid financial base to begin their working careers. In addition to saving, NOT blowing through excess student loans and credit cards is a big step too..Sometimes coming out of college with knowledge and student loans withOUT $7500 in credit card debt is a HUUUUUGE step.

By: FinanceIsPersonal.com

FinanceIsPersonal.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:51:15 +0000

I think a lot of people just don’t know enough to know they don’t know. They were never exposed to the idea thay they need to be intentional about their finances and just have passed on through life about it. It’s probably similar to how a lot of us overweight people feel about fitness.

Also, your center column looks really messed up in IE7.