A morning walker said, ‘My neighbor bought an Audi without loan on Akshaya Tritiya.’ By the time the conversation was over, the other one said, ‘What are you saying?’ My neighbor also took a Mercedes yesterday. What a coincidence.’ This is how the conversation started during the morning walk on Powai Promenade on Monday. To be honest, I was not surprised. Last night itself I had an idea about what the conversation would be about in the morning. The news had spread that there has been a rise in the purchase of vehicles on weekends in Mumbai. There was an 8% increase in new car registrations and 37% increase in two-wheeler registrations as buyers waited to take delivery on Akshaya Tritiya. The soothing morning sunshine looked pale in comparison to the competition. I was listening to the conversation with a slight smile. A curious walker asked the man talking about his neighbor, ‘You never told me before that your neighbor is so rich?’ The reply came that ‘His father had passed away three months ago.’ He had a good bank balance. Now his tone had changed a bit, in which there was both pride and cleanliness. Then the person saw me smiling and asked, ‘Why are you smiling?’ There was some irritation visible in his voice. I said calmly, ‘I think something will change inside you in the coming days.’ He took it lightly and said, ‘I am above 60 years of age, not 30, who should feel insecure about the success of my neighbour.’ Instead of debate, I cited a study conducted by researchers at the National University of Singapore, the University of Alberta, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. This study was conducted on thousands of homes between 2004 and 2014, to understand what happens in the neighborhood when someone suddenly gets money – for example, winning a lottery or buying an expensive thing. Before he could listen in detail, I asked him a question, ‘Did you look at your car differently before coming on the walk?’ He paused. Couldn’t say yes or deny. I said, ‘That’s why I was smiling.’ The results of the research were quite interesting. When someone in the neighborhood spends more on luxury, it changes social norms. People start getting engaged in it. Economists call this ‘controversial consumption’ – that is, spending not for utility, but to show status. The interesting thing is that their economic reality does not change, but the way they look at it changes. The same thing was also proved by another study by the University of Warwick in 2010. A survey conducted on more than 80 thousand adults found that people’s life satisfaction depends less on their own earnings and more on comparison with the earnings of others. Simply put, people consider themselves rich or poor not by their wealth but by comparing themselves to others. This is where the problem starts. You should never come under financial pressure from a rich neighbor. But this is often the case, because many people measure their success not by their wealth, but by how much it compares to others. This comparison destroys satisfaction. The truth is uncomfortable, but important. A healthy relationship with money is built from within, not on comparison. People who feel secure about their money determine their own success. Whether it’s achieving personal goals or maintaining financial discipline, or simply understanding how they got from where they are to where they are. When our walk ended, the conversation turned to other topics like cars and neighbors. But one question remains: Are we living our lives, or simply measuring them? The bottom line is that when you start considering yourself poor because of your neighbor’s success, then the problem is not your property, but your attitude.
Source link
N. Raghuraman’s Column: Do you feel poor because of your neighbor’s rich lifestyle?
