Sustainable materialism

For my sister's birthday this year, I got her a book -- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I chose this book for the following reasons:
1. I wanted her to think more deeply about money
2. I needed a book that she can read easily without getting bored

Nevermind that some friends of mine think the book is more fluff than substance. My goal was to make her reconsider her definition of being rich and her relationship to money. I was afraid she would become one of those many people who live paycheck to paycheck, no matter how large that paycheck is. I've seen a good share of people with more money than the average college student, who somehow had to borrow more money from their parents. I think it shows something about a person's character -- namely an inability to be disciplined and self-sufficient -- and I don't like that. I'm huge on being independent.

I don't mean to discourage her from wanting the material goods in life. Instead, I want her to go all out to get what she wants, on a sustainable self-reliant basis. I want her to realize that having a paycheck doesn't mean she can afford a big fancy something. Most people don't earn enough to buy that big ticket item.

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An aside: I hate listening to the radio these days.

Yes, the Fed is dropping rates and trying to inject liquidity, but that doesn't really mean that the liquidity is going to get to you. You hear these ads on the radio all the time -- "Mortgage rates are at an all-time low" Yes, but the money isn't going to get to you that easily. All the current financial mess is caused by a bunch of banks lending money to people who shouldn't be getting loans, the same people who are facing foreclosures and think they somehow deserve help because they got screwed. The truth of course is that they are screwing everyone else who is playing by the rules.

The worst ad must be the one that recommends getting a special loan to pay for that cosmetic surgery procedure that will change your life. It's appealing to people with poor self image and bad financial sense. I mean, how many people seriously really need cosmetic surgery to live a proper life? Breast augmentation is a totally different ballgame than reconstructive surgery for someone who's had a mastectomy.

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Anyway, about my sister and her financial intelligence. For her 19th birthday, I want to give her the gift of never becoming one of the dumb financially illiterate masses. I hope she realizes that the book I gave her is wanting. I hope it'll start her thinking about what it really means to be rich -- not to just appear rich, to have a car that you can barely pay for, dinners and vacations that you are paying for by credit card -- but to live without financial worry.