When financial actions are taken without regard to the financial repercussions, then decision making can become deeply skewed.  In a world where credit is cheap and easy, it’s not difficult for people to build themselves financially on a house of cards.  This not only had bad implications for the person, but for society as a whole.

At the level of, you and I, the individual, we have a wide degree of choices in how we choose to handle our finances.  A major problem people have today is the usage and control of their spending habits.  Alone this is actually not that big of an issue because left to a restricted sum of funds, a person will be forced in a matter of weeks or months to prioritize what is necessary and what is not necessary.  The problem occurs when access to additional resources based on credit is extended to with little restriction to the population.

When credit is easy to obtain and relatively cheap to service, those that do not have the best financial habits will be inclined to indulge in a greater amount of bad financial behavior.  It’s the equivalent of placing chocolate chip cookies in my house; if they’re available I’m going to eat them morning, noon and night.  Do I like it, yes, but is it good for me?  No.

An additional problem is caused from the actions described above.  No only does it hurt the person, but it also creates an illusion, which will poison the minds of other people.  Normalizing or even causing such behavior to be sought after brings more people into the debt sand trap.

What I see lacking in our country and society in general today are good financial role models.  Before you can do the investing that is discussed about on this and other sites, you need to have some basic financial skills in place.  If you fail to obtain the needed skills, then you will be stuck on the sideline.  True wealth isn’t found on the sideline.

I would encourage anyone looking to build wealth to identify a few financial role models.  I’m not thinking of Warren Buffet or any high profile investor.  What I’m thinking of would be ‘regular’ people that throughout their life have made good financial decisions.

For myself, I could name many role models.  My grandparents are the most prominent.  In short, they have always had a determination to save and make investments for the long-term.  What I have observed is not an easy road, but one that almost anyone could navigate and rewarding to boot.

Identify a few people that have a history of making good financial decisions and then think about how they handle their finances.  Then think about yourself and your behavior.  Are you on the right track?