I just don't understand...

[vgsalsa]

I am a person who loves to travel, has an insane comfort level with debt, and can be too generous for my own good. But that said I always have considered my options and taken the steps available to me, that I was made aware of, to make plans and contingencies for my future. I never put these things off.

So now I am doing work I love where I get to

Comments

[blackwiidow]

i have a friend here who is incredibly bright, both book-smart and street-smart, a special needs teacher, articulate, logical, responsible ... and she absolutely refuses to plan for the future. i find this fascinating, as i've had an RRSP (the equivalent of your 401K) since i was in my early 20s. so i asked her why, and her answer was that she has absolutely no proof that she'll be alive in 30, 40, 50 years time, so why save for something that may not ever happen? (she's an only child and has no children/dependents and is twice-divorced.) she doesn't see the point of it and would rather live in the moment and worry about the future when it happens.

i have another friend who would love to be able to save for the future, but she and her husband are so eyeball-deep in debt that she spends every spare cent they have trying to pay down their various loans and credit cards and so on. she doesn't see the point in saving for the future if she can't keep her head above water now. it's more important for her to pay off her debts than it is save long-term.

that said ... as i said, i've been saving for my RRSP for about 15 years now. automatic monthly contributions, which have gone up over the years as i've been able to afford it. and despite all that, i barely have anything to show for it, because i've lost almost all of it in two recessions, the one in the early 2000s and the one we're having now. i'm grateful to have it, don't get me wrong, but i'm frustrated because i thought after 15 years, i'd have more to show for it than i actually do. *shrugs*

anyway, hope that offers a little perspective as to why some people don't want to bother? :)