parkland_february_2014_web_yp

[ FINANCIAL AFFAIRS ]
Savers and Spenders
Which are You?
By Cynthia MacGregor
Are you a saver or a spender? How do you think you got
that way? Have you changed your spending habits since the
recession? If married or co-habitating, is your spouse or
significant other a saver or spender? If he/she is the opposite
of you, how does this dichotomy play out for the two of you?
The Parklander consulted financial experts on the evercompelling
subject of money.
Phil Fremont-Smith, founder/CEO of ImpulseSave (https://-
impulsesave.com), counsels, “Go on a savings spree.”
He says that 53 percent of Americans won’t have
enough to retire and 64 percent of Americans don’t
have even $1,000 in their savings account. Only
40 percent of Americans actually sit down with a
budget and allocate savings. Fremont-Smith says,
“People want to save money. People love to save
money. So, why are they so bad at it?”
People can become savers “by making the option of
saving money just as impulsive and instantly
gratifying as spending it and by actually using the
same marketing tools that retailers depend on
to pick our pockets, but to put cash in
your account rather than taking
it out. Our users are now saving
over $3,000 per year.”
But how do people get to be spenders
or savers? Judi Cinéas, LCSW, Ph.D, is a
psychotherapist practicing in Palm Beach and an author of
several books. She says, “How an individual will come to view
and deal with money will depend largely from the money
lessons that they got in their home of origin and how they
interpret these in their current situation.
“For example, a child who grew up in a home where the
parents struggled to provide for them may grow up to be a
penny pincher who needs to be convinced to spend every
dime, because that child picked up the message that money
is not guaranteed and that he needs to save to prevent having
to re-live these struggles. On the other hand, a child whose
parents did not have enough to provide for the family may
also grow up to spend frivolously, because he is making up
for the times when he did not have.
“Children who come from families where money is available also
get different messages. One may be taught that money is there to
spend, while the other is taught to save and invest to insure it will
be there in the future.”
Noah B. Rosenfarb, CPA and Personal CFO/Holistic Wealth
Coach, from Parkland, talks about what happens when a saver
marries a spender. “One of the most common reasons
cited for divorce is conflict around money,” he says. “If
savers and spenders don’t reconcile and agree upon a
life-long strategy that works for their relationship,
there is constant financial stress.”
Dr. Cinélas agrees: “When couples with different
financial views become involved, this can become
problematic, if they do not learn to adapt. There is a
middle of the road where they can happily exist. Both
parties will need to teach each other the value of their
side. The savers can learn to live a little and splurge once
in a while, and the spenders can learn, too, that some
money needs to be set aside to secure future
spending.
“If they don’t have a plan
that both parties agree
and adhere to, then finances
can become a strain on the
relationship. When they are working
together, the saver knows how spending and even splurging a
little helps the relationship, and the spender can also share that
view of saving for the sake of the future of their relationship.
“The recession has made people much more aware of the
finiteness of money. I have seen that both spenders and savers
have been sent to more extremes of their behaviors. The fear of
money not being there has increased for many people who were
savers, while others have jumped off that wagon and become
spenders, seeing that their efforts at being fiscally responsible
did not completely shield them.
“For many spenders, there was a reality faced in seeing
that the flow of money they are used to can go away, which
has caused them to begin to look at saving differently. Still
28 FEBRUARY 2014