Debt Costs More Than Just Principle + Interest

Hey Jesspressed ones

I often moan and bitch about the education system and how it has failed us and I could ramble on about this for ages.

We often speak about how education is the key to alleviate poverty and job loss, how education will help solve social ills and reduce crime, how education will free us from corporate structures and yes it can and it should but it doesn't, because education in its current form is a corporate or government-run group think tank that only breeds more cogs to slot into the machine and carry on the status quo.

I am personally the proud owner of an overpriced piece of paper called a university degree and I realise I wouldn't be sitting here complaining about things if I didn't get it.

If I didn't get it I would not have the merit to get the job with an okay-ish pay and benefits, I would not have learned the money-making skills I have now, and it has indirectly helped me but as for the actual contents learned from 4 years of studying, the product fails abysmally.

Teach me how to money

I went through school, university and 4 years of the working world and I always wondered when would someone be teaching me about money, how money works, where it comes from, what are the different financial instruments used for and why some people are able to work the system better than others.

My teachers, my bosses, my mentors, my lecturers didn't teach me money because they did not understand it themselves. This may be a bold statement to some but if all your money comes from trading time for it, you don't know money!

So I thought if this tool is so valued and so important why don't I start learning more about it and how I can make sure I make the best financial decisions for my future and the first thing I focused on was debt.

Image sources: - stockinvestor.com

A debt to us all

At this moment I have zero debt and I'm proud of that fact, having a positive net worth allows you certain comforts, and im not talking spending money, oh I live like a pauper, any money I get is immediately shifted off far from where I can find it to work for me and give me a return in the future.

Which is basically the exact opposite of what my peers have done, when we all started to earn our own money many bought cars, homes, had extravagant holidays, bought luxury goods, had kids, etc all the normal stuff.

The majority of these actions were financed by debt because they wanted things they could not afford.

Debt is by no means the system of oppression many make it out to be, if you misuse debt you only have yourself to blame. If I'm going to take out debt I'm not going to do it without knowing won't be paying it back myself.

Yes, you heard me, you should NEVER pay back the debt you take out. When you leverage the bank's money all you should be doing is acting as a trusted middleman between the bank and people willing to pay off your debt.

If you're buying a home, get someone else to rent it, If you're financing a business, your customers should be paying that loan.

Debt should be used to create new income streams and take advantage of opportunities, not purchase liabilities that will see you tied to them leveraging your potential income for the foreseeable future.

But this is what we're taught and through social indoctrination, this poor money habit has been able to continue through generations and across the world. It has made realtors, bankers, car manufacturers and dealers wealthy while continuously trickling income from the poor and the middle class into their pockets.

The rich become rich and remain rich because you keep giving them your money.

Money doesn't make the world go round, debt does!

The world has been hooked on cheap money and instant gratification and in doing so prices of certain products and services are able to skyrocket well above that a fair representation of their value is. By using or rather misusing debt we've created ticking time bombs in real estate, car loans, student loans, life insurance and many more.

All these financial models are built on the fact that there will be more people and more demand and we can keep printing money because there will always be suckers willing to sell their time for money and pay it back, its a sure thing.

The instant that is no longer the case, this whole thing will collapse on us. Do I know when that will be? No clue, will it ever happen, most likely! This system is set up to fail but only fail spectacularly which is why it's so important to have a financial education.

The worst part of these crashes is that the average man is the one that gets blindsided and wiped out thinking hey but I did what you told me to do, I work, pay my bills and taxes. Well, Unfortunately, that wasn't the right way to protect yourself against an economic downturn.

Opportunity costs lost to debt

While debt comes at a cost we can count, there is literally Trillions or more worth of lost opportunity costs due to debt. If you're holding down student debt, a mortgage or a car loan you're less likely to take that overseas job, to come in as in investor on a start-up business, to invest in opportunities in crypto and to have disposable income that can be used to build passive income streams.

Your appetite for risk is severely reduced and you're losing the ability to earn while you're paying for it with your only ability to earn. While this isn't a rule and you can still get into opportunities should you be a saver or have an income that allows you to do so, it isn't a prevalent action most people take.

The current banking system is NOT designed in your best interest and if you listen to everything they say without doing the proper research you will end up in the debt trap that keeps their shareholders happy and their doors open.

They are selling a sub-par product and many of us have grown tired of it, if we are to build a sustainable future it will be off the backs of improved financial education as well as an augmented monetary system that allows us to opt-in and out when we feel like it and not to be tied down to one product.

Debt won't be going away any time soon, so it's best you learn to leverage it wisely. As much as I would like to believe in the altruism of people, the monetary systems of today and the future will always be one based on a Darwinian principle.

Have your say

Holla at me in the comments! All my commenters I will now refer to as Jessie. Jessie is a good friend of mine, but Jessies got a girl, and I want to make her mine.

So have at it my Jessies! If you don't have something to comment, simply comment "I am a Jessie."