How Advertising Distorts the Need for Saving

The “branding” of America is the most insidious part of our culture.  Now, entire personalities are subsumed into brands.  Lebron James is a brand.  Jerry Bruckheimer is a brand.  Every supermodel and pop singer is a brand.  There are few places you can escape logos such as the Nike “swoosh” or Mickey Mouse ears.  The brands scream only two messages at us: “You’re not good enough,” and “Spend.”

Advertising is a huge reason why people don’t invest.  Advertising is a shell game that sets us up for the quick thrill, eternal youth in a bottle, sex at the beach by drinking a brand of beer and buying a lot of things that do absolutely nothing for us.  Instead of saving the money we would be spending on some gadget, vehicle, or wardrobe, we could be could be investing in our children and ourselves.  Advertising is the deep end of the ocean.  When we succumb and sink into it, there’s no bottom to the spending. 

Turn Off the TV and Start Saving

The more TV a person watches, the more he/she spends (based on the advertising they absorb).  Actual research by Dr. Juliet Schor from Harvard found that for every extra hour spend watching TV, the subjects spent an additional $208 per week.  On average they spent an additional $2,300 a year in unplanned expenditures. 

TV and Advertising distorts the view we have of ourselves.  Advertising is designed to make you feel uncomfortable about yourself, your possessions, and everything around you.  If you are perfectly secure and comfortable, then you won’t feel the need to buy the thousands of products being marketed. 

Be Careful When Browsing the Internet

Personally, I use the Firefox browser with an Add-on called Adblock.  What this does is prevent website ads from appearing when I visit sites online, thereby removing my temptation to buy some gadget I won’t have use for after two days of purchase. 

The Real Truth about Saving and Spending

If you take away nothing else from this on cutting out the influence advertising has on your life, know this: If you spend less, you’ll quickly save more.  I know this sounds like a big “duh,” but there is a powerful spiritual component to savings as well.  Being in deep debt is a form of slavery-to your creditors.  If you are working just to pay bills, you are shackled to what you owe.  It’s a lonely impoverishing situation. 

Mother Teresa noticed it when she visited the United States:

“There are many kinds of poverty. Even in countries where the economic situation seems to be a good one, there are expressions of poverty hidden in a deep place, such as the tremendous loneliness of people who have been abandoned and who are suffering.”  

How the Rich Got Rich and Stayed Rich

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately on the consumption lifestyles of the ‘average’ wealthy individual.  No, these are not the stereotypical 'Hip-Hop’ glamour image you see on MTV – there are no oversized gold clocks hanging to their belt lines.  These are folks you’ll likely find shopping at Walmart for the best deals around!  They’ve amassed a sizeable portfolio of businesses, stocks and other investments to get to where they are.  More importantly, they were patient and thought long term.

Here are some of the most common traits found among them.

1. They stayed married an average of thirty-two years.  Divorce is really expensive.  Just ask Donald Trump, or more recently, Tiger Woods!  Donald Trump’s parents (his source of initial wealth) stayed married all their lives.
2. They held on to the same job for a long time.  Job-hoppers have trouble building wealth.  You’ve heard sensational news before of people who worked for UPS (or some other job) for all their lives then suddenly bequeath millions to charity upon their death.  It’s no coincidence that they got so rich when compounding is at work. 
3. They have invested over their working careers: an average of thirty years!
4. They had no investment experience when they started, 85% of the millionaires surveyed knew nothing, but they were eager, lifelong learners and learned as they went along.
5. They considered themselves “frugal.”  Some 80% saved by not spending.  And, those BMWs you see everywhere?  Don’t let them fool you.  98% of buyers of luxury cars are not rich.  The auto makers know this, that’s why they market their brands in rap videos for all the wannabes who are watching.
6. They held investments for more than five years.  Some even longer than ten years. 
7. They used their parents as models for saving and investing.  Of course, when you get older and realize that your parents are not the money role models you can or should follow, then I advise you to hit the local library and find books on the subject matter. 

For a fascinating look into the true lifestyles of real millionaires, turn off MTV and grab a copy of this book: “Stop Acting Rich” by Thomas J. Stanley