[Dion]

In conversation: David Chilton

On the illusion of wealth, and why so many are so far behind in saving for retirement

Q: What really struck me about The Wealthy Barber Returns is the focus you put not just on saving more, like in the first book, but on spending less—this idea of living within your means. But that doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that’s going to be popular with people. Most personal finance books tend to come at it from the perspective of telling you how to get what you want.

A: That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. I’m telling people to manage their expectations and get more realistic ones. There’s a line in the book, which, at the time, didn’t seem all that important, but is really an important part of what I’m trying to say. And that’s that we’re not bad savers, it’s that we’re fantastic spenders. And until we get the spending under control, the saving will never take place. So what I tried to do is look at why we spend so much and then talk about the savings part. But you’re right, I do focus more on the spending part than most writers. And that’s the part of the book that’s so far going over the best. That’s resonating with people because they see themselves in a lot of those stories, making the same mistakes. Most people agree that this drive toward consumption and possessing as much as we possibly can is not translating into better happiness levels. In fact, it may be doing the opposite by creating tremendous stress about people’s futures, financially.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/09/07/o...or-retirement/