To the editor:
Recently, an Australian millionaire advised young people to put their money toward a deposit on a house, not on smashed avocados and toast. He was accused by some of “bashing young people.”
But he wasn’t; he was bashing people who spend like there’s no tomorrow. When you’re 20 years old, you can reasonably expect twenty thousand tomorrows ahead of you; you need not spend like today is your last day on earth; Tim Gurner was merely advising that we be frugal, prudent, and save up for a deposit on a home.
This used to be standard advice for young men; it’s gone out of fashion, and many now live from paycheck to paycheck — even those with substantial earnings. It is not impossible to build a savings account, by dint of eating simple meals in, instead of expensive ones out, and by other small economies. Such a savings account enables one to handle crises which would overwhelm others; it enables one to reasonably plan for a home or business, not so far into the future. It can enable one to turn wishful thinking into a plan, a method to arrive at one’s preferred destination, under one’s own power. This is true empowerment — to believe in oneself and one’s reasonable plans.
Terry McIntyre
Pittsburgh, Penn.