Dear LPG, 

To my mind there are no two ways about it, I can’t help but think that the way that the world around us thinks about money has evolved in a really back to front way.

Just like people of all ages in our western world, we Septuagenarians and Octogenarians were part of a generation which were preoccupied with acquiring the best of everything that the world had to offer at the time.  The difference was that as the emphasis was on buying the things we wanted.  Perhaps we were a generation much more willing to save for what we acquired even though the ‘never-never’ existed back in those days. 

I know that I am talking very generally but I am also talking as a member of a generation that saved for most things before we acquired them.  These days you get the sofa, and you don’t need to pay for it until it is all but ruined and well used, and it is accepted that you don’t need to own anything to be thought of as credible. 

In fact, more important than what you have acquired is your credibility as a good debt risk.  Since the pandemic I find myself watching a lot more television than perhaps I should, but most of the programmes come with adverts built in.   I supposed that the average watcher still uses them for making a quick cup of tea, or a toilet break but have you noticed how many of them are trying to sell debt credibility these days.  

It appears that all those values that we tried to teach our children about the importance of being in complete control of their finances now has a new feature and that is that the youngsters of today need to spend more time working on appearing to have the potential to afford to pay all their debts as opposed to the knowledge of knowing that what they have is really theirs.

Is it any wonder that keeping one’s head above financial water is so much more difficult these days?

BJ, Lewisham

BJ offers links to some of the television adverts she is talking about…

(►►►)   (►►►)     (►►►)    (►►►)   (►►►)