OBTAINING YOUR FINANCIAL BLACK BELT

BY

LES TRABAND



For many of us the goal is to have enough money so that we won't have to work. And we want to get enough before we're too old to work, or before someone tells us we're too old to work. The American dream is early retirement.

But how can we attain financial independence and job security in a world where things are scarce? Prices go up. Younger and smarter people enter the job market. New and confusing technology changes all the rules. The Pacific Rim countries are taking over our markets. It's scary, this scarcity. There are not enough jobs and there are too many people seeking them.

Suppose you're thirty-five years old with a wife and two kids, ages three and eight. You earn $45,000 and you've peaked. Any income increases from now on will be tied to the cost of living index. What are your worries? Tight cash flow? Little or no savings? Kids costing more and more as they grow? In a few years you'll have to confront orthodontist bills -- and in ten years your oldest will start college. One kid will be out for a year and then the other enters. When your youngest graduates you'll be 54, only eleven more years to retirement. And remember you'll have to pay for a wedding if you have a daughter.

There's enough worry right there to keep you awake nights. And then you think, "Will I have to help out my folks? What if my wife gets sick? What if I get sick?" Talk about quiet desperation. Is it any wonder people drink too much, get divorced, use drugs?

Look at another scenario: a couple approaching sixty, kids out of the nest. Health care costs are soaring. Where should they be investing? Savings and loans? Mutual funds? Municipal bonds? What if one of the kids has it rough and moves back home? How much money do they need to retire and live the good life?

The belief that things are scarce dominates all our thinking. It keeps us on the defensive, protecting, hoarding, holding on. We become stingy. Notice how you feel in a traffic jam when a car cuts in front of you -- like you lost something. That's scarcity. Not enough time to get where you're going, not enough time to deal with the demands once you get there.

Each year in January we're hit with credit card bills from the holiday season. And it's time to start assembling our ammunition to fight the income tax return wars. What a way to begin the new year! Then the guy from your favorite charity calls you up to ask how much they can expect from you this year. He's hoping you'll give much more; you're wondering if you should pledge at all. There isn't enough to take care of everyone. Isn't this the year that it was all going to turn out?

Now the insurance man calls, reminding you that you told him to call after the first of the year. How much will this cost? Maybe you can keep putting him off. Is buying more life insurance the way to go? Who's living this Great American Dream you hear so much about? Better go buy a few lottery tickets! But there are not enough winning numbers and there are too many players. Scarcity again, and again...and again.

We believe that EVERYTHING is scarce -- money, property, time, love. We operate as if there is only so much money, so we get ours first and hold onto it. "There's only so much to go around so I've got to get mine." This kind of behavior leads to stress and emotional suppression, not only for you but for your loved ones as well.

I say that the condition of scarcity is so thick and so solid "in our experience" that it has become an unquestioned reality. You haven't had enough sleep, you don't have enough time, you don't have enough money, and you're not getting enough love. Anyone you talk to will agree with you about scarcity.