This week I’m talking about materialism and how it might be wrecking your retirement. Materialism places utmost importance on money, the things money can buy, and outward signs of financial success.

If you own up to your materialism, then you probably realize that it’s hindering your most important long-term goals and getting in the way of real, lasting happiness.

The next logical question is: how do I overcome my materialism?

It’s not easy, but here are a few suggestions that have been helpful for me:

• Ask yourself why before you buy something. What’s the reason behind it? Is your desire for buying something fueled by impressing others or living up to some expectation from society or others?
• Stop comparing yourself to others. Rick Warren calls this the comparison trap and I spent an entire week on this topic earlier this year in episodes 113-119. When you stop comparing yourself to others, and feel either less than or prideful as a result, it’s a powerful way to prevent you from falling into the keeping up with the Joneses materialism trap.
• Practice gratitude for the things and people in your life that you already have, rather than focusing your attention on what you want or what you don’t have. Your warm bed, your home, your dog, your spouse, your kids. Food to eat and clean water to drink. A smile from someone you love, and laugh shared with your child or grandchild. Focusing on the non-materialistic and the wonderful things in life that already bring you joy and meaning to life, can help squash materialistic desires.

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow, we’re going to recap the week and I’m going to give you a little preview of next week’s theme.

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

---

Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

---

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, materialism, disadvantages of being materialistic, causes of materialism, materialism in society, how to beat materialism, materialistic