Foundations of Finance

There too many important things in life to worry endlessly about money. Get out there and enjoy.

I was watching the news last night about a project in Southern Utah that will cost billions of dollars over the next 10 years to remove tons of radioactive dirt from the area.  Money from the stimulus package given to the state of Utah will fund the project.  I wondered if that was the right use of that money, but that’s beside the point. 

Briefly, I thought why this world has money.  We’re so driven and so controlled by it.  I thought, what if money did not exist; what if everyone just did things and we all lived equally?  Yes, that’s rediculous.  But it got me thinking.  Though money is needful in each of our lives, I think we spend too much time worrying about it.  See, even our daily phrases in this country reflect our obsession with money: “spending” time.

Anyway, I came across an article this morning by Ben Stein. Remember him?  The classic teacher on Ferris Buhler’s Day Off and the guy with a corky show about winning his money?  Well, he’s incredibly wealthy. And he regrets his extravagant spending habits and worrying about money his whole life. His advice to all was to spend prudently.

“If I may say so,” Stein said, “this incredibly simple prescription — spend prudently — is so rarely observed and obeyed and so often transgressed that, if it could be corrected, it would send a wave of peace over the nation.”

Wow.  A wave of peace.  I agree. 

You know that feeling of regret you get when you just bought something expensive that you really didn’t need but you just had to have it?  Andy hopefully you’ve never felt the looming darkness of debt.  But if we spend prudently and don’t worry about our money beyond what is necessary to save and plan for the future, we could be much happier and more at peace with ourselves.

Some of us may be young, some may be nearing an end.  But don’t be like Stein who regrets worrying so much about his finances.

“I have spent so much of my life worrying about money that it makes me want to weep,” he said.