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Maina Azimio
My American Experience: People Live In Advance, You Spend Before You Earn
Today I decided to take a road trip by bus from Oklahoma State to Texas to have a feel of common life in this land (I might leave America without experiencing real life)
The debt situation in the US is worrying
Not because they are reeling from it but because they’ve accepted it as a way of life
People live in advance
You spend before you earn
The capitalist system here is deeply entrenched and sophisticated. Not many can escape it
There is credit for virtually everything. Yes including fuel for your car
In Texas, fuel is 2.17 dollars per gallon on credit and 1.96 dollars cash
Remember cars are bought on credit, its insurance and much more. Those who live in own house is on mortgage and almost everything else that cost money is on credit.
The services providers here are too smart. They have ensured you can easily get pap! What you want if you’ve a job (which are not hard to get) and a good credit score….. (But at what cost people do not consider)
Simply put, people here work to pay what they’ve already spent/committed.
Unfortunately most of them are comfortable with this arrangement and have acquiescence to it
I have noted that lack of financial intelligence is a universal problem
Most people work all their lifetime and never achieve financial independence let alone financial freedom (where you do not work to pay your bills but work because you enjoy what you do)
In this place, there is an urgent need to establish better relationship with money
It is unfortunate that people in their 80s are forced to work for long hours because they did not plan for life in retirement
Others put their nest in financial instruments that pay so little to support their current needs. This have forced the senior citizens (the baby boomers) to keep working when they should be enjoying their sunset years
Here there are well designed and equipped Homes for the aged and that accord them a comfortable life (and assisted living) but they do not come cheap. One of the homes I visited charges 7000 dollars per month. This translate to around 700k per month or 23k per day
If we spend our money in advance on instant gratification when working, how will we manage in old age?
When will you ever live?
This is a conversation we need to have
Am now more committed and willing to develop ways to generate multiple streams of passive income to support life in retirement
By Maina Azimio
