“Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich” – Proverbs 21:17
We all like to have a good time. Work can be stressful; raising children can be tiring, paying bills is annoying, keeping up with politics is infuriating. Who doesn’t like to unwind, relax, and have fun?
I do not begrudge anyone from wanting to enjoy themselves. However, I want to make sure that all that fun does not bankrupt you. There is an old mantra, “Work hard, play hard”. I’m not a fan of that mantra. Personally, I think, “Work wisely, Play wisely” is a better saying. Don’t overwork yourself to the point of exhaustion, and don’t indulge yourself to the point of poverty. It is important to understand that extremes in any direction are never good.
If you are going to enjoy yourself, you must be disciplined. It is easy to become poor when you are feeding your immediate pleasures. How many times have you heard stories of actors and athletes filing for bankruptcy? These people made millions of dollars; how in the world did they end up poor? More times than not, it is because they “played hard”. They spent most of their dollars partying whenever they liked, buying whatever they wanted, eating whatever they craved, and traveling wherever they desired. They indulged in pleasure to the extreme, and as a result, it impoverished them.
While many of you don’t have the millions of dollars that celebrities have, you can still fall into the same trap. When you indulge without any fiscal discipline, it is only a matter of time before you financially crash. The difference between your fall and a celebrity’s fall, is that they have a bigger ladder to climb beforehand. However, their fall is much more painful. As the rapper The Notorious B.I.G. once said, “Mo money, Mo problems”.
I am not here to tell you that you can’t enjoy the fruit of your labor. But, as your financial planner, I am here to tell you that if you overindulge, don’t be surprised when you have no wealth to enjoy in the future. So, by all means enjoy yourself. Work wisely, but also, play wisely.