What’s with everyone trying to be all secretive about their net worth, their income, their savings and their debt.
Okay, the debt part I can understand, it might be a lot of credit card debt which isn’t very wise to have, making us look like we don’t know wtf we’re doing.
People in this culture are all about bragging about the good things they do though (myself included), so why the shit not share your savings.
For one thing many think that others have more. They are embarrassed because they think they should have x-y-x amount in their savings accounts.
Another reason is that many people actually don’t know how much they got, perhaps because there are various sums in various accounts.
Yet another reason is that if they were to tell you that they have $75k in their 401k they wouldn’t be able to tell you what it is invested in. Again, worried about looking like idiots, they prefer to be secretive when it comes to personal finances.
It’s kinda like sex… if you don’t talk about it then it remains taboo, ya ain’t gonna know wtf you’re doing and you’ll keep sucking at it, possibly even thinking you might be doing just fine.
I’m a guy and so I talk about sex with only my guy friends, don’t really talk about it with my female friends… dunno why, I suppose I should but I don’t because I’m just not comfortable doing so. And with my guy friends it’s 90% bullshit. We are putting on a show for each other, too shy to be honest, too ignorant to know what we suck at.
But, as a guy, I have maybe 2 friends with whom I can have a real conversation about sex and it’s quite enlightening. Don’t worry, we won’t get into details, suffice it to say that once you take the lid of a taboo topic you’re likely going to learn something. What’s worse than not knowing something? Not knowing that you didn’t know.
If we remain ashamed about the topic of finance, or fearful that by sharing our numbers someone is gonna try to steal our money (get over yourself!) then we are likely never going to get to the meat… the real stuff from which we could learn.
Sharing my numbers with all 2 of you reading this shit has had a couple of my friends worried;
What if someone finds out what you’re worth and tries to kill you?
Well, then I’d die.
What if people try to sue you because you have money?
Then I’d probably refer them to my malpractice carrier.
What if people find out where you live?
It’s really not that hard to find out my identity nor hard to find out where I live. I’d share it with ya but trust me, it won’t make a difference in your life.
Doctors, especially, are borderline ashamed to talk about how much they make. A few of my patients have made the mistake of trying to put me on the spot to see if I would tell them how much I make and I gladly whipped out my financial appendage and laid it right across their forehead.
Why should I be ashamed about what I make?
What power do you think you have over me because you know how much I make?
I know damn fucking well what I’m worth and it’s not written on my net worth spreadsheet.
If I lose all my money tomorrow I’ll be the same guy the next day… right after breaking down and soiling myself initially. I’ve been able to disconnect myself (so I think) from my financial net worth. I don’t identify with it, I’m not defined by it and besides money helping me achieve a specific and narrow goal in life it is really just another tool, honed by some and left out in the rain to rust by others.
So share that information with your friends, with your neighbor or a sane stranger. See what topics come up for discussion, you would be pleasantly surprised. The only person who will end up giving a shit is you – you will learn a lot.