Hunters Bay Radio
ASK THE MONEY LADY LOW INCOME SAVINGS AUGUST 10 2024
"Your source for community, MSCOCA made talk shows are on MSCOCA magazine, the bay, 88-7." Hey, this is Dr. Shervin, MSCOCA magazine is brought to you by Dairy Lane Dental, keeping MSCOCA smiling for over 30 years. Please visit DairylaneDental.com. This is the Ask the Money Lady radio show where we answer all your questions about money. I'm Christine Nivetson and thank you for joining me today. So let's talk about what to do if you have low income or maybe the occasional no-income situation and are finding it hard to save. Today, many are struggling to just put food on the table and they don't know how they could ever manage to save since they're struggling every month. Poor people, especially single parents, have a lot of challenges and not having enough money for ordinary things that others take for granted causes many in poverty to make decisions that are necessary at the moment, not having the luxury to save for the future. Now I want to tell you why that is, and for those of you that looked down on the lower class, bend your ear a little and listen up. There was an excellent study done a few years ago that compared the IQ of those who had money and those that did not. There were over 5,000 respondents that were chosen from lower and middle class demographics and they all had to have the same IQ score to begin the testing. So regardless of gender, age or ethnic background, basically everyone had the same intellectual intelligence. Now all participants were given the same problem to solve and were told to relate the situation as to their own lives at that time. So when faced with a financial challenge about their future, let's say an expensive car repair, the ones that had the money to pay for the repair seemed to have a higher IQ with the balance of the testing. Now this was really interesting and it proved what this study was aiming to demonstrate, that the wealthier respondents didn't have the mental brain drain of finding a solution to this financial problem because the answer to the question about how to meet the challenge of the car repair was relatively easy. They knew they could pay for the repair out of their savings or on credit and their brains were free to move on to the next problem. Now this wasn't the same for the poorer respondents who were stuck on the financial question since it was more difficult for them to know how to meet this personal challenge. This study had conclusive evidence to show that those with less monetary means seemed to lack the mental bandwidth available for the balance of the IQ test. You see, being preoccupied by financial concerns makes everyone who has less measurably unable to do the things that others can do because they have no worries about their future and the day-to-day monetary commitments that come up all the time. Poverty does not discriminate by age. It affects the young to the very old. We all need to remember that it's going to be harder for those impoverished to improve their situation than it is for those in our middle class society and we should never judge someone for what you believe is their lack of determination to improve their situation. Social scarcity is generally not a one-time event and can continue over generations. It has long lasting consequences and for those that can overcome it, they have indeed climbed the mountain and triumph. That is the true secret to becoming wealthier, not just in monetary terms, but also personally and spiritually, you must push back on all the limits that society forces you to live under. Let me ask you something, how do you feel about your financial situation right now? Do you have enough money to do what you want? Simply telling you to say, no, more often is not the answer since I'm sure you're already doing this more often than you would like. What about if I tell you to make more sacrifices, commit to a budget, hold yourself accountable, sell your possessions, or start collecting your loose change in a jar? I mean, that's not going to help either, will it? The answer to lifelong saving and improving your situation right now is in your ability to earn more. I know most of you will say that's way too simplistic and you would rather me give you an investment product or a money scheme to try instead, but honestly, this is the only way to improve your situation. You must believe in yourself and believe in your ability to earn more income. The fact is, you're only making the income that you feel you're worth right now. You could be earning more, but instead, it's you that has chosen to accept your lot in life and it's you that believes you are only worth what you currently have and what you currently earn. I know that sounds harsh, but if you believe you are only worth minimum wage, then that's all you'll earn. For those of you in comfy careers, you too are only earning what you believe you're worth and no more. This is what you've convinced yourself and your employer that you're worth. If you believed you were worth more, you would earn more. You would do everything that it took to make a higher wage. You would change employers, take courses, and walk with the confidence and a demeanor that says, "Hey, I'm worth it." That's the difference between high-income earners and low-income earners. Yes, I know that education, training, and skills have a lot to do with it too, but there's a lot of people that have multiple university degrees and they're not working in their field of study, but rather working for a fraction of what they're worth and doing a job that just pays the bills. Now, conversely, there are people who have very little education but have a massive drive to succeed. They educate themselves, they believe they're worth more, and they absolutely refuse to be kept down by anyone. You can earn whatever you want in your lifetime. The trick is, you need to reprogram your thoughts and stop saying, "I can't," because you totally can. It doesn't matter what happened in the past. Dump it from your mind and make sure you never run back there. The fact is, everyone typically lives below their limitations. I know we all face challenges and everyone has problems, but the reality is most people believe they're more limited than they actually are. They never bump their head against the ceiling of their limitations because they never reach high enough to hit them. If you only take one thing from this message today, then take this. Your potential in life is not fixed. No matter how old you are and what has happened in the past, the main reason you're not further ahead, happier, healthier, more successful and wealthier is because you put limits on yourself. Not until you open yourself to opportunities and push for more will you ever have more. Most people, well, they have uphill dreams, but tons of downhill habits. Nobody can slide their way into success. The phone isn't magically going to start ringing with opportunities that are perfect and too good to be true. Life will always be an uphill battle in your career and your relationships. That great life you've always wanted, well, it's up there. It's attainable for those that have the resilience, fortitude and inner strength to keep pushing to get it. I'm not telling you something you don't already know. The problem is we wimp out and give up. We slump back into that old routine and whine about how we wish things could be better. I mean, let's face it, downhill is so much easier, right? Going downhill has no requirements. It doesn't take any effort. It's like giving in to the effects of gravity. You can slide on into your new down lifestyle. Heck, you can do it in your sleep. You don't even have to get out of bed. All you need to do is be complacent, inconsistent and fill up your day with excuses. There's no need for big picture thinking here, only instant gratification. Really downhill living is for those that want to slide down the hill and let go of their life. Moving uphill, improving your situation, no matter what it is, your health, your career, your living conditions, whatever, that takes intentional energy, determination, hard work and consistency. It can be painful at times. That's because doing the right thing is usually a hard thing to do. And most people resist doing the right thing because it is hard. Instead, they do what's easy and eventually start slipping down that hill again. Please, please don't join these people. I believe you can be more. Now you need to believe it too. Thanks for listening in today. I'm Kristina Bidsen. If you have a money question that you would like answered, please send me an email through my website at askthemoneylady.ca. Join me next time when we'll talk about more money questions that always matter to Canadians. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)