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Part 4 Final Thoughts
Smart financial management may seem complex, but the rules outlined above should start you
thinking in the right direction. It’s not really that complex. Save and spend wisely. Think
before you act. Do act—it is easy to ignore thinking about your finances when there always
seem to be more pressing issues or work, family and fun. Set aside a regular time to review
your
situation, with your partner if you have one. Most of all, remember the advice of Mr.
Micawber, from Charles Dickens’ novel
David Copperfield: “Annual income twenty pounds,
annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual
expenditure
twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”
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Concluding Thoughts
Besides being economists and educators, all of the authors are also parents, aunts, and uncles.
In addition to leaving a legacy of knowledge to our students and other readers of this book, we
wish to positively influence the lives of future generations. We are sure that you feel the same
way.
We accomplish this goal in many different ways. At the local, national, and global level
we can work to ensure that public policies create an environment where individuals can
achieve their potential. At a personal level we can seek to ingrain habits of success by serving
as role models and guiding our children to make sound choices.
As we have seen in this section of
Common Sense Economics, financial security tends
to elevate general well-being by making necessities attainable and eliminating worry about
fulfilling basic needs. Those who develop the
habits of working diligently, setting goals and
achieving them, and avoiding the temptations of instant gratification by considering the future
consequences of current choices are typically more successful in all walks of life than those
who do not.
One of the most important ways to teach young people
responsibility is by helping
them understand that money is earned; it is not manna from heaven. Children can, even at an
early age, be empowered by setting tasks that enable them to earn the money to meet their
desires. These tasks can involve incentives to meet specific educational goals or help out
around the home such as walking the dog or peeling the potatoes for dinner. Money is not just
a means of getting more of what you want, it is also a measure of your contribution in helping
others get more of what
they want. The best way to earn more money is by serving others and
finding ways to make them better off. This entrepreneurial lesson will pay important dividends
during a child’s career, no matter what that career turns out to be.
Even when paying for a child’s
purchases, it is possible to provide them with an
understanding of the costs and trade-offs that are inherent in all expenditures. Throughout their
lives, all of our children will have to decide how they are going to spend a limited income. If
they spend more on one item, they will have to spend less on others.
We all have to make
trade-offs. Beginning at an early age, we need to teach our children about this reality and
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provide them with experiences that will help them learn to choose wisely. Many parents (even
those who give their children allowances without requiring anything in return) encourage their
children to set aside a portion of the money they receive to donate to a charity. These parents
also often take the time to discuss with them where to direct
their funds and why thinking
about other people’s well-being contributes to their own worth and the welfare of the society in
which they live.
To a large degree success in life is about setting goals, working hard to achieve them,
figuring out how to make your services useful to others, saving for a specific purpose, and
spending money wisely. These are the key ingredients for success. Economics provides the
recipe for how to live a more fulfilling life.
We are now at the end of a journey. Throughout this book, our goal has been to provide
you with information and tools that will help you live a more successful life. It is our hope that
your mind has been opened to new ways of thinking and that you will use the insights gained
to improve your life and the lives of those around you.
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