Doesn't it seem as if spenders get a lot of good press? The woman with the flashy car, the guy with the obscene Rolex collection, and the couple who leverage their McMansion to buy holiday gifts grab our attention and get the glossy spreads.
Savers, however, aren't media darlings. They are relegated to the back pages and labeled with less-than-flattering descriptors such as "tightwad," "penny pincher" or "miser."
Savers are seldom seen as powerful, confident or sexy. However, here are six reasons why savers actually are more attractive than their spendthrift peers:
1. Savers can seize the moment ... and the deal
Good deals come and go quickly. To take advantage of a red-hot bargain, you've got to be ready and able.
By living below their means, savers generate and bank a surplus each month. That capital can be used to seize and seal deals that might not be accessible to buyers with more sluggish personal economies.
Imagine hearing through the grapevine of a fixer-upper house in a prime location that's being offered at a bargain-basement price. Which do you think an impatient and off-site seller would choose: the buyer with cash in hand who's ready to sign right after the inspection, or the buyer who needs to talk to a banker and maybe ask for a few financial favors from Mom and Dad?
Admit it, there are few things sexier than a man or woman of action, the one with the knowledge and the means to make those large and small deals happen.
2. Savers aren't beholden to lenders
In some fashion, borrowers always answer to their lenders. There's nothing particularly wrong with strategic borrowing for investment purposes. However, borrowing and chronic debt can sap our wealth and energy, making life seem much more restricted.
By contrast, a saver is freer to make bold choices, reinvent a career, take some time off or follow a dream. That combination of flexibility and freedom is a rare quality these days, and it can be potently attractive.
3. Savers swim against the tide
Consumption has become a national sport, with the bowl game of Black Friday being bumped up a full day. Today, the economic challenges our nation faces aren't won by encouraging citizens to buckle down and save more. Instead, Americans are encouraged to make a collective effort to shop more.
It's no wonder that savers represent a new sort of pioneer who ignores what the neighbors are doing and rejects the flawed logic that spending more is always better. If you're a saver, you know what I mean: It takes a bit of confidence and comfort in your own skin to follow a different path.
4. Savers are strategic
Successful savers didn't get that way by being indiscriminate with their money. They understand the innate and intimate connections between time, labor, money and things, and they apply that knowledge in tactical ways.
Savers know the secret: If a person can invest enough time and labor and be a shrewd steward of the money that results from each, he can gradually reduce or completely replace his own exertion with "working" assets. Isn't being smart sexy?
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