The famous marshmallow test has been a classic experiment to refer to when it comes to educating someone about delaying gratification even though the recent replication revealed more details which most people don't follow up with, just like many other behaviourial experiments.
Being someone who has been spoilt with instant gratification since young (my parents used to buy toys for me every Sunday before I entered primary school :)), there's no way I will pass the marshmallow test as a kid.
But is instant gratification really a bad thing? I beg to differ.
One of the goals that motivate me to start saving aggressively and be more financially responsible is to own a property and achieve financial independence.
When I was still studying in poly, I wanted to buy a house and realised that not only do I need to save up for downpayment, I definitely can't afford the mortgage without a proper job. So when I realised that buying a house is not something I can save up over a couple of years (pardon me I was really ignorant and naive), I was motivated to earn a lot of money to save at least for the downpayment and capital for investments.
I think this is one of the pros of being a marshmallow loser. Even though this group of people tends to be mocked at for their inability to resist temptations, they have been deeply misunderstood.
Marshmallow losers are surprisingly good savers.
Indeed they are impatient beings who can't appreciate the idea of 'wait a little longer to get something better', but that doesn't mean they are bad with saving money.
They have the mindset 'I like this thing and I want it now. If I can't have it now, I want to have it as soon as possible' How else do you think those Millenials kids are able to afford branded goods from head to toe without asking money from their parents (they will get a harsh scolding) and taking it on credit (they are not eligible for it).
They find all sorts of ways to earn money and save up for that one item that they want to get, and they are determined because they are stubborn people who hate compromises. Accepting something that is more affordable or value for money upsets them.
So instant gratification is not a problem, the problem arises when they start to buy things they cannot afford on credit and roll into a compounding debt trap.
Those who spend everything they earned habitually tend to become higher spender once they become higher earners and the availability of credit accelerates their chance of getting into debt if they can't be disciplined to follow the golden rule of 'spend less than you earn'. We all have heard of stories of how 5-digit earners landed in 6-digit consumer debt.
The second problem is when the marshmallow losers indulged so much that they had to rely on others for support when they no longer have the ability to generate income, either due to retrenchment, illness, or old age.
If they have been instant gratifying themselves and didn't bother to save up for rainy days or prepare for retirement, they will be passing the cost to others, be it their children, relatives, or even the government. It is not fair to let others shoulder the cost of your own mismanagement.
I'm not encouraging the readers to spend everything they have and give in to their instant gratifying devil all the time. I'm just acknowledging the fact that just because you want something really quick doesn't mean that this is an entirely bad trait as long as you aren't stirring trouble.
Before the circuit breaker, I was browsing in Kinokuniya and set my eyes on a new book by one of my favourite author priced at around $20. I took a picture and send it to a friend who has connections to books at much cheaper rates to check for availability. He replied that he could get it at almost 40% lower for me but I may have to wait for a few months so I decided to buy the book off the shelf without any discount (I don't have a membership) because I was excited to read the book and it wasn't available in the local library.
This is an example of my indulgence in instant gratification. Does this cause me to be in debt? No. Will I be so broke after buying the book that I need a free meal from a friend? No. Indeed it may have set back my savings by $8 but it's a price I'm willing to pay for the value of enjoying it immediately.
On the other hand, if you know how to work instant gratification to your advantage, it may even be a desirable trait.
For instance, one of my ex-schoolmates who spent two months working event gigs on weekends just to blow it up on a new iPhone during the school days has now bought a property (albeit on a mortgage) in Australia. He wanted to own a house by 25 (he achieved it at 24) so he worked and saved really hard for the downpayment on a house in a good location and rent the rooms out to the international students in Australia.
He joked that he's a typical marshmallow loser because he could have waited till he's married or turned 35 when he can get a HDB in Singapore with lots of grants but he really didn't want to wait for that long and he won't be able to afford a private property in Singapore within his budget, so he looked elsewhere although that shot his chance to purchase a HDB in Singapore, which is more financially sound, unless he sold his overseas properties.
He didn't find it too much of a challenge to save money because he's already used to saving up over a few months to spend it on branded shoes and the latest gadgets since our school days. So even though he has been 'wasting money', the process of saving up to waste money turns out to be a good fundamental block for his finance.
Because unless you are turning to leverage, saving money is the foundation of financial independence. You need to save money for your rainy day funds, for your investment capital, and for your retirement.
And the only way to save money is to spend less than you earn.
There's one last thing I really want to add about the marshmallow experiment. A second marshmallow isn't exactly attractive, may I suggest a bag of marshmallows with a warm chocolate fondue tower? I'm pretty sure most kids will be able to wait for it.
Many thanks for reading.
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