This is the story of senior citizens, say, old-aged people, above the age of 60 and their habit of minimum spending or not spending at all. They want to save a big amount of money till the last day of their lives and make a big heap of money to be left behind. Before I discuss the details, let me give you certain real-life examples without their names. Yes, all of these are true stories of senior citizens.
- An 88-year male had 11 pairs of new dresses for daily wear, but he opted to continue with the old one about to tear at the buttocks area and with an ugly looking net on the pants. Ultimately all new dresses had to be donated at an old age home on his departure!
- A 60-year male had a medical problem needing surgery to get cured. Despite having a large sum of saved money, he opted to die untreated.
- A 70+ male with plenty of assets and cash on hand never used his telephone, just to save money. He used to send a message note asking to call him (that too for his need). He preferred to travel by passenger trains (not fast/express) in the cheapest class compartment. He never paid any hotel bill even if the hotel visit was for his demand! He would walk a long distance in the town to save auto fare, ignoring the value of his time against saved money. Yes, he certainly saved a lot for his offspring!
- A senior person having 10+ years old television having poor audio and picture quality would not change till it is irreparable! This applies to car, fridge, mobile or any such electronic item. He would continue using them until they stopped. I am not even talking about age-old pairs of shoes, colour-faded dresses and years old many such things having only antique value.
- An old man with reasonably high income and savings does not miss a chance of exploiting his housemaid, driver, cook and other staff. Out of his greed, he continues paying them minimum salary possible and never the normal, average market salary one deserves.
- A rich senior citizen never travels tourist places inland or abroad, citing that all beaches and hill stations are just the same!
- Despite having money and assets, a 76-year male opts to remain deaf, partially blind and poor food eater. He would not buy even the cheapest hearing aid, get cataract operated or denture prepared. He would check prices at three places and ask three persons about the cheapest price sellers, and eventually not buy any!
- One senior person would never pay the life membership fee of the club he loves to enjoy, instead keeps on paying the annual fee. He would eventually discontinue that as well!
- Most senior citizens are poor donors. No donation, no help to needy close ones and instead ready to accept any gift or money offered to them. Of course, not all are the same and exceptions are certainly there.
- A 75-year old individual with continuous huge income and savings never buys a newspaper or magazine he wants to read. Instead, he reads them at friends’ place without hesitation. To save the electricity bill, he sits at friends' and neighbours’ place to watch television programmes, daily! He has no shame in having regular dinners at Jalaram Temple, Swaminarayan Temple or Hare Krishna Temple without any donation whatsoever! Yes, you’re right - he always commutes in friends' car or shared vehicle keeping his car resting in the garage.
The list can go on and on!
Now that you have seen multiple examples, let me tell you the probable reasons!
- Inheritance: The parents of the old ones used to repeatedly tell them to spend less money and save for the future life, because they too were advised the same by their parents and lived like that. This inherited character demands only savings and minimum spending.
- Poverty: During the British rule till 1947 and immediately afterwards, the majority of the Indians were poor, maybe because of their exploitation or otherwise. A basic life of "Roti, Kapda aur Makaan" (food, clothing and shelter) was also not available to many. So, the spending was not a luxury most people could afford, but saving was, if at all.
- Psyche: After 35-40 years of struggling and hard work, all their earning was spent on routine living - multiple children's upbringing, education, their marriages and death rituals. So, the luxuries of life were never dreamt of. Simple living and high(!?) thinking was an accepted norm.
- Feeling of poor earning: At the end of their career, when they see the younger generation and others earning very high, they feel depressed and think they missed the bus of high income. At that point, irrespective of the amount they have earned and saved, they constantly feel "I have not earned enough." This again leads them to stop spending. A vicious cycle of savings and not spending begins. They think of themselves to be poor despite the respectable amount they may already have.
- “Middle Class” mentality: It is the setup and branding of mind as a middle-class person in the past that keeps one living a conservative (poor?) life, despite a big amount of money in the hand!
- Good old days of low price: They have seen the low price of materials in their early life. Say, the gold at Rs. 100 for 10 gm in 1960, is at Rs. 55,000 today. Petrol of Rs. 5 a litre in 1978 is at Rs. 80 today. They cannot dare to buy things at such a high price. They do not have the will or let us say courage to spend at this high price.
- Offspring: Though not all, but many present-day offspring living separately elsewhere with their small family can hardly make their ends meet. They need parents to support. Such parents do not feel certain about their future life maintenance. In return, they become conservative and poor spenders.
All said and done, the above points may or may not explain the behaviour of all old-age people. But this is the story of the senior citizens in total.
Shall the old people learn from the present generations or the old is still gold?
I do not know. What do you say?