Past, Present, and Future, the three ghosts that visited Ebenezer Scrooge. Each ghost taught him a different lesson, that helped me with his current situation, and how he viewed it. Understanding how we view our credit in relation to our past, present, and future, can help us make better decisions.
The Past Mindset: Living in the past, credit speaking isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You may life in the past if you focus on previous mistakes, scrutinize your credit report, and are heavily focused on paying off debt. This is not a bad thing, but it can leave you to neglect the present, and the opportunities it affords you. 90% of credit card holders who ask for a lower interest rate usually have their request granted. Yet studies have shown that only 28% of American credit card holders ask to have late fees waived. Why? Probably because most are too focused on their past mistakes, and atoning for them to realize that there are answers and solutions in their present.
The Present Mindset: This mindset is usually the one that can get us into trouble. If we are only concerned about the present, worrying about things like retirement, or lower interest rates just seems ridiculous. Often those with this mindset enjoy their money and the pleasures it can bring now, often racking up huge consumer debt. They end up with large debts, high interest, and a bad credit score that can destroy their future.
The Future Mindset: Planning for the future is great, as long as it’s not all you do. Investments are the bread and butter for this mindset, but they often feel a false sense of security and put too many of their eggs in one basket. Like the financial crisis that struck many baby boomers and decimated their savings, diversifying savings is the key to future planning, and making wise present decisions that will help keep you financially healthy.
The best mix for a healthy financial mindset is all three: understand where you’ve come from (and the mistakes you’ve made), keep a cool head during your present financial decisions, and plan for your future, while enjoying today.