Friday, February 13, 1998
Do You Like Roller
Coasters?
By Wendy B G
([email protected])
Do you like roller coasters? Every amusement park has a roller coaster. People seem to love the feeling of unpredictable changes of direction, swooping up, then having the world drop out from under them. The most spectacular new roller coasters even have helical tracks, that spin the riders upside down.
I hate roller coasters. I always have. I hate being out of control, of being helpless to do anything but scream as my body and mind say, "Get me out of here!" I can't understand why people pay for this "thrill."
Life has enough ups and downs. When I was growing up, my family wasn't affluent. Both my parents worked (this was before the mass movement of women into the workforce), and we economized. I observed the value of savings when trouble hit, when I got a rare blood disease at the age of 16. My parents' wisdom, and the ability to pay for the best doctors, pulled me through.
When I went to graduate school at age 20, I was on my own, with a $3,000 annual stipend to live on. Those were the days of the "Eastern omelet" (a highly nutritious but very cheap dish of bean sprouts and eggs) and clothes I sewed from fabric remnants. I saved enough from my meager stipend to loan a friend the down-payment for her car, then to pay cash for my own car (a $3,000 Chevette) when I got my first job.
Once in the workforce, the money I saved (and invested) was like the chain that pulled me up that first big hill of the roller coaster. You may be lucky, and have a nice, long upward pull that never ends. Or you may find yourself hurtling over the top, with the world dropping out from under you (as I did periodically, with my fire and the loss of my job). Would you have the momentum to carry you through the drop, and up the next hill? Or would an unforeseen problem leave you sunk?
If you hate roller coasters, as I do, you will save and invest, instead of spending all your money, or (worse yet) going into debt. Yet the average American family has over $30,000 in consumer debt (including credit card and automobile loans, but excluding mortgages). Will they ever pay down this debt? What do they expect to live on after retirement? Social Security? The average American man saves only 3% of his gross pay, the average American woman only 1.5%.
My long-term strategy is to live well below my means during my earning years, so my lifestyle will not have to change in times of trouble or after I retire. If I can squash down the peaks and pick up the valleys of that roller coaster, the ride will be smoother. That's the way I like it.
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