As regular readers of Mighty
Quinn on Politics and Money (“MQPM”) are more than aware, one of my
recurring themes is that saving is a virtue that we have long ago abandoned in
this country. Saving money is not only a
financial necessity, both for the individual doing the saving and for his or
her country, but it is also a mark of character, a manifestation of one’s
ability to delay gratification, to be prudent, and to show good judgment. Conversely, spending money to excess on
things one “just has to have” is not only financially debilitating, it is a
sign of poor character, immaturity, insecurity, a lack of self-control, and a
very unflattering sense of entitlement.
A friend called this morning with a question about an estate
for which she is acting as executor.
Another sage observation…if anyone asks you to be an executor of an
estate, unless he is willing to pay you a lot of money or if you are the ONLY
person who can fulfill that role, run away.
But I digress. After we finished
the conversation, a thought came to me regarding my very strong view on the
relative desirability of frugality and financial lasciviousness, to wit…
What would you rather have your heirs say, or think, of you when
you die?
“Gee, I didn’t know s/he had this much money,”
or
“Gee, I thought s/he had money.” ?
Sadly, the answer isn’t obvious to everyone.
This is a great closing comment. I have a feeling that this will echo through my internal voice for a long long time.
ReplyDeleteI hope so, Matt, and I wish more people had such clear thinking internal voices!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting; hope all is going well.