Financially stable, who doesn’t want to become one? I guess almost every one of us wants financial stability.
Recently, my wife and I had an argument. You know a common misunderstanding of husband and wife when it comes to expenses. I can’t remember the day it was but I think it was last month when I only had $50 (2500Php) left with my salary. My wife was kind of devastated because you know such an amount is hard to budget in the next fifteen days. I was kind of irate too so I exchanged words with her that I should not have spoken.
When we just got married we had a deal not to argue about money because it kind of brings bad luck. We exchanged words for a couple of minutes until I decided to stop the argument. Then I sit in front of my PC and think. Then I remember the old quote I used to say, “Life is not fair, get used to it”.
Why is it that life is so hard for some of us when it should be so easy? What makes it so hard to earn a living?
Then I picked up my phone and asked Google, Why are other people financially stable? Google will always give us the most relevant answer as close as possible to our question. On top of the searches Google gave me was a post by Shiv Nanda from the website moneytap.com with the title Why Financial Stability is Important in Life. I guess the keywords for this title have been optimized well so that it gives a lot of website traffic. Well, obviously because it is on top upon searching Google. It’s a four-minute read by the way and while I was reading it the answers to my questions can be found there.
Let me give you my insights about the information I have gained from the blog post.
Indeed to understand financial stability we have to understand first the opposite, which is financial instability.
I wasn’t aware that the definition of financial instability is what I am currently living in my entire life. No savings, no investment or no other source of income when needed for an emergency. Although I have a monthly income, 20% of it goes to loan payments and monthly contributions to social security and Medicare. So that is how Shiv Nanda defines financial instability which is currently happening to me.
Importance of financial stability in life
Being financially stable doesn’t mean no more problems or stress-free life. We have to understand that problems have an important role in our life to make us strong and determined to move forward.
According to Shiv Manda we have to avoid people who keep on asking money and telling you things about why they lack money. Some may not agree with this because there are a lot of beggars on the street. It’s kind of disrespectful if we will have to avoid them. But what Manda wants to emphasize is that people complain a lot about hardship.
So it appears that whenever this kind of person approaches, it’s kind of dragging us to becoming like them.
If you are working in a large city, most likely you want to live near your office. But definitely you do not have your own home so will keep on renting as long as how long you will stay in the company you are connected with.
Owning a home has always been the dream of anyone who does not have one. Having your own house has a lot of benefits because you can probably save and invest. Financial unstable people always have to live in rented areas sometimes owned by illegal settlers. Good accommodations of course have a high amount of monthly rentals. Yes, I have been renting in Metro Manila for almost 20 years. I could have bought my own home in some subdivision outside Metro Manila.
You see how financially unstable I am. Nevertheless I have invested for my retirement even if it is 20 years ahead. I also consider my kids’ education as an investment. I know I can no longer control them when they can already decide for themselves but I make sure I give them a good education.
Time always moves forward not backwards so whenever we have opportunities to become financially stable we should grab it right away. I guess I have to remember those factors that make me financially unstable and consider redirecting the path I am going through.
We always make mistakes but mistakes are there to teach us lessons to become stronger and stable.
