Ep 63The Viral Speech: Living Above, Within or Below Our Means
Jewish law says a man who lost his money gets charity for his white horse. Here's why.
Drugs are addictive, cigarettes are addictive, and luxuries are addictive.
Rabbi Eliezer Gewirtzman
The Viral Speech: Living Above, Within or Below Our Means
It's not just costing me money, it's costing me my life.
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Quotes
“Don't allow your dreams to get in the way of reality.”
“When you get used to something, whatever it is, it's very, very difficult to roll it back.”
“My bank account does not define who I am.”
“Yesterday's luxury is today's necessity.”
“Drugs are addictive, cigarettes are addictive, and luxuries are addictive.”
“How obnoxious do I sound to the person struggling the most?”
“Don't let yourself look back and say, I could have afforded it. I didn't allow myself to, because that really hurts.”
Takeaways
- 1 Rabbi Gewirtzman gave the talk after noticing that many people told him 'others' were struggling, which suggested they were struggling themselves.
- 2 Young people who came of age in easy years (rising real estate, COVID aid, free school food) never learned what hard times look like. Now high rates have frozen much of the real estate market.
- 3 His example: a $1.2 million house with $350,000 down is about $7,500 a month. Add two car leases ($24,000), health insurance ($10,000-15,000) and taxes on $175,000 (about $40,000), and roughly $155,000 is gone before daily living, tuition or clothing.
- 4 Most salaried workers earn $100,000-150,000, and a very good employee about $200,000. An employer realized paying $120,000 isn't 'supporting' his workers.
- 5 Many families now need two incomes, but school hours don't match workdays, leaving children in long daycare.
- 6 Lakewood prices fell about 20% in 2008-09. Prices don't only go up, and today's rates won't last forever.
- 7 After the talk, only 3 of about 400 families in his community re-leased cars. Most bought them out.
- 8 Wanting more is natural and drives effort, but goals must go beyond money. Luxuries stop being enjoyed once they become needs.
- 9 Ads show the top 0.5% as normal. Regulation isn't the answer. We can expect of ourselves what we expect of our teens: to rise above temptation.
- 10 Moving out of town can work for someone with a portable income, but it's a big step: fewer services, harder for older children, and away from family support.
- 11 Show children the hidden cost of wealth (time, marriage, stress) and point to other goals: being a good father, an honest person, a community man.
- 12 Social talk that treats luxuries as basics puts more pressure on struggling families than the spending itself.