Justifying why we do it.
John Stackhouse
Vice President of Wealth Management at Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union
“Man arrested for DUI says he wasn’t drinking while driving, just at ‘stop signsâ€
Every once in a while you catch a headline that just makes the best point. The story itself was not even the message we wanted to talk about. It is the statement in the headline which creates a subject all of itself. Let us chat about the upsides and downside of self-justification.
It has been joked about for years the purchase habits of certain people (being gender neutral) when it comes to sales. The self-justification to buy something not at all because it was needed but because it was on sale might have been a discussion in your household once or twice. The same might apply to purchases or activities involving such classic phrases as: “Well the guys/gals were all doing it too.†Or “I figured if we brought this , then we could do this other thing you have always been talking about.â€
The majority of self-justification types of activities seems to center around the spending or time or money. Self-Justification might very well be a line item for expenses in a financial plan or budget. It is human nature to feel we are making the right moves, the best decisions, and prudent choices. It is that little voice we either listen to or fight all the way to the checkout.
From the perspective of a financial professional, the one self-justifying expense that would be rewarding to hear about is rarely mentioned. The times when you did not spend something because it was on sale but saved something because your future was worth it. A time where you fought to keep “paying yourself first†for your life insurance or your retirement account, even if it involved having to work a side job or sell some stuff on eBay or Offer-Up.
If you have any stories to share, please do so as comments here. Let us all try to motivate and inspire people to create a plan and work the plan. We would rather see you self-justifying a cruise in your retirement years over spending money in your 30’s for jetskis when you have never been to the lake.