The land of the free
If you were to ask many people in Canada or the USA what they value most about being in their country I'm certain more than a few people would say that they value their freedom.
Indeed, the American national anthem has the words "Land of the free and home of the brave" while the Canadian one has "God keep our land, Glorious and Free".
However, when I look around in either country I see exactly the opposite. I see a whole lot of people who are bound in slavery.
Of course there are no visible chains and there is no visible master. I've never seen that type of slavery and I hope I never will. I will contend however that few people in my country are truly free.
The ties that bind
Now I like to think that I am freer than many. There are still some ties that bind me which I have no desire to sever. I am bound to my wife "until death do us part". I have declared myself as Christian another tie that binds me to a code of conduct. I have declared myself as a father and bound with ties of love to my children. Those ties I will happily cherish.
With regrets I have sold my freedom for many years by taking on debt.
I can't actually say that I regret the debt that I took on.
I took out a car loan
Which allowed me to buy a car that I drove for 18 years. A vehicle which took my family on many vacations. Help my wife and I get to work and my kids to school. A vehicle that was used in many many errands
I took out student loans
Which allowed me to pursue my career as a Pharmacist. Allowed me to work at a job for 29 years and provide for my family and retirement.
I took out a mortgage
Which allowed me to purchase a home. A place for myself and my family to live. A place which has allowed me to house many guests, homestay students, and even foster animals. A place where many family gathers have happened and many memories have been made.
Each one of those debts served a useful purpose so many would classify them as "Good Debts". I would tend to agree that they were good debts as without the money I borrowed I wouldn't have achieved as much as I have.
However, each one came with a cost.
They all stole my freedom. I had no choice but to work long hours in order to repay those debts. I had to move to a foreign country to make enough money to repay those debts. I had sleepless nights wondering how I would service those debts if interest rates rose or my employment was lost. In short, they a provided me an opportunity but I had to pay a price more than just interest. I lost both sleep and my freedom.
Some debts are worse than others
My worst debt was a simple charge on a credit card. When I was a new graduate from University and had just secured my first decent paying pharmacy job my grandmother died. My employer granted me 3 days leave with pay to go to the funeral but the funeral was an expensive plane ticket away. $700 for a round trip ticket which was pretty big for me back almost 30 years ago. How could I not go to my grandmother's funeral though?
I figured I could pay the credit card back quickly though. I was wrong. I had a falling out with my boss just a month later and lost my job. Now I had debt and no way to repay it. Credit card interest is unforgiving and it piles up. I did find a new job but in a new town and there were expenses in moving there so it took a lot longer than I thought to pay off that loan. It got done but it cost a lot more than I thought.
When we were going through my grandmothers belongings she had many biblical articles about avoiding debt. I remember one saying how a "Mortgage" was two words put together "mort" -- death an gage "measure" with mortgage literally being a "death guage". I may not truly agree with that but it did make me think. Now I've since learned that "gage" actually means "pledge" in old French. I don't think a "pledge until death" is any better honestly š
The other thing in her possessions was this bible quote:
It gave me a new perspective on money. Debt may help me further myself...but it steals my freedom.
Even today I still haven't fully learned my lesson
While I have done a very good job to avoid the debt trap that so many have fallen I still have debts that annoy me. But I just can't bring myself to pay them off yet.
Debt #1
People ask me if my mortgage is paid. My answer is an ambiguous Sort of.
The reason is this: I took out a mortgage at a rate of 2.79% for 10 years. I still have a number of years left on the mortgage and I have enough money to fully pay off the mortgage and be free of it.
The problem is that the money I have is in a term deposit making 5.5%. If I take out the money to pay off my mortgage I'm losing out on about $3,000 per year (you can do the math to figure out how much my mortgage is). The term deposits are government insured and they come due at the same time as my mortgage. So, when my 10 years mortgage is up it gets paid in full.
Debt #2
I also wanted to get a nice cellphone for my wife. She got a Samsung Galaxy S23 which had a price of about $1500 when I bought it. Now my cellular carrier had a deal. They would give the phone for free provided I pay $60/month for 2 years for my cellular phone plan. Of course I did the math:
- $1500 to buy phone PLUS pay for cellular service monthly.
OR
- Pay 24 months * $60/month -- $1440 to get a new phone AND cellular service.
At first glance it seems like an obvious choice. Choose the payment plan as I get the phone I like plus service for an overall lower cost. Smart, right?
But I keep forgetting the hidden cost.
In both of those instances I keep grumbling at the hidden cost. I must make the payments. I am beholden to the bank for the mortgage and the cellular company for the debt owed on the phone. Sure both of them will save me money. Sure both of them are financially sound investments. But both of them are anchors tying me in to a bank and a cellular company until the end of my contract. YES I could buy myself out at a cost. YES I have the money to pay that cost.
But I've still lost a measure of freedom because I'm too cheap to pass up a good deal.
Someday I might learn
... But debt sure can be tempting.
Thanks for reading
I always appreciate comments.
Until the next #hivelearner post prompt
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