Americans' Sense of Entitlement Can Negatively Impact Personal Finances

Over at Yahoo! Finance, Laura Rowley has an insightful column on personal finance. She draws some interesting conclusions about the psychology of Americans who look for shortcuts and get-rich quick schemes instead of following basic, boring "standards":

...[It] inspired me to think about how much of my financial life is governed by "the standard" -- principles so often repeated they've become cliches: Live within your means; build your skills and get a higher-paying job; stick to a budget; remain debt-free (except for a mortgage); save monthly for big goals, including college and retirement; learn about investing, risk and taxes so you do the right things with your savings; and yes, research deals and clip coupons. It ain't as sexy as speculating in commodities, but it's worked for me.

...For others, looking for solutions "short of the standard" comes from an entitlement mentality. As a recent article in Psychology Today noted, our discontent is culturally afflicted. We optimistically -- and rightly I think -- believe in progress, in mobility, in the power of good ideas to prevail in a free market. But at the same time, the media often casts personal freedom as life with a menu of infinite choices. When something isn't making us happy, we can erase the old and pick something new! We can live a rich life! Perfection -- or at least endless improvement -- is our destiny.

"The result is an ongoing self-appraisal of how your personal life is going, like having a continual read-out of your emotional heart rate," Andrew Cherlin, sociology and public policy professor at Johns Hopkins, told Psychology Today. "You get used to the idea of always making choices to improve your happiness."

Cherlin was talking about the problems of applying the value system of the free market to one's spouse or romantic partner -- but the same issues arise with money. When the goal of life becomes personal happiness, it's easy to internalize the message that we are entitled to more. Welcome to a never-ending sprint on the hedonic treadmill.

I agree with Laura's view. Personal finance is not the mysterious conundrum that some people make it out to be. Actually, it is pretty straight-forward if you are willing to take the path of patience, self-discipline, and common sense.