Advertorial | YOLO — Why save for the future?

I was having a discussion with my friend where he was enthusiastically sharing his weekend party plan. He further said - my life funda is very clear. Work Hard - Party Harder. His social media profile is filled with his party photos, restaurant outings and vacations. He is always found with the latest gadgets and in-trend clothes. I humbly asked - bro, I hope you are saving also for the future. He paused for a moment, made a face and accused me of starting a lecture again. His point was - Who has seen the future? Covid has just taught us - there is no guarantee of life. Who knows when we will leave Mother Earth. So, the best approach is to enjoy the present. What’s the point of saving when we don’t even know whether we will be alive or not? Afterall, You Only Live Once, which in the cool lingo is abbreviated as YOLO. Today hotels are oversold, restaurants are full even on weekdays, there are more cafes in the city than medical stores; overall spending is on the rise. But there is a flip side to this theory/story.

It is true no one has seen the future. USA is around 5% of the world’s population but accounts for over 25% of the world’s consumption. It looks very glossy from outside as people seem to be enjoying life. But the reality is far different. To see this reality, we have to move away from the YOLO lens and wear a different lens. The other lens shows that over 77% of the Americans are worried about their personal finance. They are deep in debt and many have a negative net worth. Their condition is so precarious that they are even buying day-to-day groceries on EMIs. Individuals over the age of 70 are forced to work just to meet their basic requirements.

Instead of living at the extremes (miser or flamboyance), the need is to strike a balance and aim to be frugal in nature. We can neither ignore the past not the future. Often people strive to meet their present wants at the expense of future needs. Always have a plan to meet your tomorrow’s needs. Remember your current income is the source to meet your future needs and wants as well. SO, spend wisely. After, who knows you may live to be 100 years old as well thanks to the advancement in medical science. The average lifespan in India is expected to touch 80 years in the coming decade. The question now is – are we prepared to live that long?