“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”
Proverbs 22:7
That is a very topical quote for a Personal Finance Blog, isn’t it?
The Bible says that the rich rule over the poor. That is your thought for Labor Day since the rich do as they please and the poor work for their lives (OK, trite and oversimplified, but still pretty true). I’m sure the Bible is not speaking solely on a Financial angle, but this is something to keep in mind.
The borrower is the servant to the lender is very correct. If you are in debt to someone or an institution, they call the shots, and you have no control of the situation (or very little). The only way to regain control if you are a debtor is by paying off the debt, and then you are free.
Are you tired of me bludgeoning you with Bible quotes on debt? How about this one, then?
From Shakespeare’s Hamlet, 1603:
LORD POLONIUS:
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend…
In life, the Bible, and literature, debt is a bad thing. I am pretty sure the Qur’an also does not view usury favourably.
My list of debt commentary articles is quite long, so let’s stick with the basics.
- Three Solid Ideas For Your HeLOC is a misdirection title. With interest rates going up, home equity lines of credit are becoming heavier anchors on your financial life.
- Pay Day Loans? Absolutely, positively NO! Go talk to a licensed insolvency professional before you do this.
- Surreal Paragraphs Found in Credit Card Bills, if you carry balances on your credit cards, you are in trouble. Look at their estimate for how long it will take to pay off the debt on minimum payments.
- A Mortgage Changes You, which is very accurate. When you get a mortgage, your life changes, and it will be a major element of your financial decision-making process.
- Make More by Reducing Debt with some elementary (maybe naive) arithmetic.
- Straight Talk on Your Money is not just a good book (and podcast). It explains how debt can get out of control quickly.
- Debt-shaming: Debt is Bad, but You Aren’t having a poke at the “influencers” who say my commentaries about Debt being BAD is debt shaming.
- My coup de grace There is No Such Thing as good debt. Debt is a tool, like a chainsaw, and must be respected.
If credit cards are the greatest source of bad debt, auto loans are a close second. You are upside down on the loan the second you drive off the dealership’s lot and it’s downhill from there. Too many people shrug off a car payment as a necessary evil.
While I agree with the point, I absolutely hate that quote from “Hamlet” being used as ‘advice’. Polonius is a time-serving, puffed-up idiot, who is perfectly willing to wreck his daughter’s life in order to get ahead. The point of the scene is that this stuffed shirt is boring his son Laertes to tears with obvious commonplaces. The association makes the words weaker rather than stronger.
Point taken, I should have checked with mydaughter who is an English major 🙂