Is it true?
“Obsession with the short-term is ingrained in human nature.” — or so says a quote from The Four Pillars of Investing.
Do you think that’s true?
I pretty much do. It’s so much easier to focus on the here and now, or maybe the 5 minutes from now. We can plan for summer trips, or for much-anticipated dates like graduations. Waiting for holidays or birthdays to arrive just about drives many kids crazy with anticipation. But who wakes up every day thinking “wow, I can add another $3 to my retirement fund today!”.
Maybe that’s exactly what we should be thinking about though.
December 27th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Instant gratification is hurting our species quite a bit…it must have been a useful trait at one point, but between easy credit, and convenience foods, we seem to be gratifying ourselves to death. It’s hard to get excited about building one’s retirement and paying off thousands of dollars worth of debt for years, which is why we strive to meet the little goals and celebrate the tiniest victories.