Make Financial Decisions Based on Your Values, Not Others
The most important monetary rules never change , but there is a lot to be said for doing what works for you . Ultimately, you are in charge of your financial situation, which means that you make decisions based on what is important to you and not on what is important to someone else.
For example, I once moved home to pay off a student loan. Some would call it lazy and codependent – taking the easy way out. Maybe you are very frugal in your expenses. Someone will say that you are cheap and short-sighted. People love to criticize others’ financial decisions. Financial planner and writer Carl Richards explains the dangers of letting this criticism get to you:
This can cause all sorts of problems in our financial life. Instead of making financial decisions based on what’s best for us, we start doing things based on what others think. If we don’t know who we think we are, our values and our goals, then we will end up spending money in a way that keeps up with the Joneses.
Ultimately we try to live other people’s financial lives … The goal is to separate what we want from what everyone else wants.
It’s one thing to read advice and think, ” Wow!” It makes a lot of sense – it’s a much better alternative. But it’s different to follow the advice simply because you’re ashamed of it. Richards suggests thinking about why money is important to you . What personal goals will this help you achieve? After you answer this question, the next step is to make sure your financial habits are aligned with your goal.
Personal finance is just that: personal. There are, of course, several major pillars of personal finance . Plus, all you can do is take advice, learn the basics, and make the decisions that will benefit you the most.
Richards has a lot more information on this, so read his full article at the link below.
Learning to Let Go of Financial Peer Pressure | New York Times