Tips for saving during tough times should be guides for living every day
Americans are getting advice on pocketbook issues from lots of people these days, including financial planners, credit counselors, consumer advocates, and spokesmen for financial literacy groups.
Most of the advice is good and well intentioned. But I fear the approach is misguided and potentially dangerous. Bear with me and I'll explain. Meanwhile, I'll list some of the most common advice we hear, over and over:
So, what's wrong with this advice? There is nothing wrong with it. These are all things we should be doing all the time. But most of them are being presented as ways to manage our money during difficult economic times.
Which raises the question: When the good times return, is it OK to go back to spending more than we make, running up credit card debt, and generally wasting our money (and in the case of gas, our resources)?
I hope not, but it will be a tough battle.
"The most powerful messages that individuals receive each day are to spend, and if need be, to borrow to do so," says Dallas Salisbury, chairman of the American Savings Education Council. The mortgage crisis, Salisbury said, "is a direct result of our society having been so dedicated to borrowing and spending and growth that it made it possible for people to borrow well beyond what we now know was advisable."
So let's make savings, thrift, and smart money management our goal. I urge all readers to get a copy of "Money Tips for All Ages," a free new 16-page guide published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnspr08).
Humberto Cruz is a columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
