I saw a posting on Facebook that read something like, “Big houses, expensive cars, designers, and a fancy lifestyle is not wealth. It’s debt. Wealth is time, freedom (from debt), real friends, genuine good times, options and health.” I recently came across an article in the New York Times about a family of four that seemingly had it all including a 5,500 square foot home in the Hamptons, a 4,400 square foot townhouse in Manhattan which they rented to keep up appearances for $47,000 per month, plus a $1million speedboat—all of which were financed with debt. As Neil J. Young, an historian who is writing a book about the Hamptons said, “This place is predicated, for a certain set, on showing off. It’s the things one has, the things one does out here—from the restaurants to the workouts to the parties. But it’s a place where you can get overextended really quickly, where a house of cards can suddenly collapse.” That’s exactly what happened to this family and when it did, the husband took his own life, and the wife was saddled with a huge mountain of debt and the unenviable task of sorting this whole mess out. Yes, it looked like they were living the dream, but it was all an illusion. I’ll take real friends and genuine good times any day!!

One Sentence Wisdom

• “There is no dignity quite so impressive and no independence quite so important as living within your means.” — Calvin Coolidge
• “When your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep becomes your downfall.” — Jim Rodgers

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