It’s hard to believe that so many people strive for the appearance of wealth over actually building it. How else can we explain so many Americans willing to fall into debt for the sake of luxury overspending?
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The truth is, looking at psychological factors and social pressures can tell us a lot about why people buy luxury items that exceed their budgets and have a negative impact on their bank accounts and long-term financial successes.
Too many consumers are more concerned about what others think about their status symbol possessions than creating genuine wealth. At least that’s the thinking of financial advisor and radio show and podcast host Dave Ramsey.
Stop Caring About What Others Think
Ramsey is a popular pundit among these pages and elsewhere, and for good reason. His homespun, no-nonsense advice and attention given to financial education fundamentals has earned him a faithful following and an estimated fortune worth $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Naturally, Ramsey’s dead against wasting money on badges of success, especially when it keeps you from achieving the true wealth you seek.
“Trying to impress your broke friends will keep you broke, too,” said Ramsey in a recent Instagram post. “That’s how people end up with a car payment bigger than their mortgage and no money in the bank.”
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Ramsey has hit on the subject of overspending to impress in the past. Back in 2023, Ramsey took to X (then known as Twitter) and posted about the most popular cars owned by millionaires. While luxury automakers like Lexus, BMW and Acura ranked among the top ten, reliable brands like Toyota and Honda topped the list.
“Most millionaires don’t drive flashy cars,” he said. “When people don’t waste money to LOOK wealthy, they have money to actually BECOME wealthy.”
Spending more than you can afford — for example, on a more expensive tech product or larger automobile — can place a huge burden on your finances, so all significant purchases should be met with stubborn deliberation and decisions made based on your needs and budget.
How To Win the Wealth Game
It’s easy enough to say, “I don’t care what others think,” but it that really true? Most of us do care what others think, especially when it comes to perceived success and wealth. For Ramsey, the first step towards breaking free from worrying about what other people think is to focus on your own financial goals and values.
“The moment you stop caring what other people think is the moment you start making progress,” he said. “If you want to win, you have to tune out the noise. Get on a budget. Pay off the debt. Build real wealth.”
To stop caring about what others think, you’ll need to be a bit selfish and focus on what you want for yourself rather than trying to please or impress everyone around you. Figuring out what you want in life should be easy, but getting it will take work.
To combat thinking about how others perceive us, Elevate Counseling + Wellness suggests identifying triggers for validation spending, trying new experiences to build confidence and growing a positive, unconditional support system. But before that, you should simply sit down and map out a spending budget.
“When people see where their money is going, their behavior changes,” Barry Glassman, a certified financial planner and founder and president of Glassman Wealth Services, told CNBC’s “Your Money.”
Ultimately, people need to fight the urge to overspend on goods and services to leave a good impression on other people. To do that, you need less “keeping up with the Joneses” and more keeping an eye on the prize.
“You can LOOK rich now, or you can BE rich later,” said Ramsey. “And when later comes, you’ll still be driving the nice car. But you’ll actually own it instead of it owning you.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Dave Ramsey Says No One Wins With Money Until They Do This — and How You Can Do It for Yourself
