Interesting academic article which I found from today's New York Times Magazine. I've pondered whether some PF bloggers, particularly those in their 20's are being over-responsible and self-denying. At least based on what they write publicly. I don't regret not saving money during that period of my life and going into debt in order to study, travel, and enjoy life. Nowadays, I am pretty frugal but mainly because I have only gradually increased my material standard of living over time. I am not in any kind of struggle to avoid spending money. I just don't want a lot of "stuff". My saving also isn't directed at some distant "retirement" but rather at achieving "financial freedom" as soon as possible.
Anyway, the point of the article is to test the idea that over time feelings of guilt about not being responsible and overindulging oneself tend to decline, while feelings of regret about missing out on life's pleasures tend to intensify over time. The authors believe that their experimental results support these hypotheses.
3 comments:
This is an interesting subject for me, and I recently wrote a post about how I'd rather travel than have a big old emergency fund.
Going back to grad school isn't a smart financial move either, but I'll probably do that too. I guess I'd just rather live well than die wealthy. For me, managing my money is intended to let me do the things I want to do, and I have to wonder about the people (especially the young people) who decide what they'll do with their lives based on the money they'll make. I know that I speak from a place of privilege (because if I had a medical emergency or something, my parents would pay the hospital bills) when I say this. Nevertheless...I'm 23. I want to read books and backpack across North Africa.
That often makes me feel profligate in the personal-finance blog world, so thanks for some reassurance.
OTOH don't take out loans for tuition for a grad degree that won't pay a premium above what you can earn from a bachelor's degree. I borrowed a little money on top of the scholarships and assistantships I got to get through grad school without living in real poverty. And if you get a job that pays much more than you need to live on then by all means save some of the money rather than extremely increasing your living standard to match the income.
Moderation in all things is good :)
PS: I couldn't access your blog.
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