Today I read an essay in the WALL STREET JOURNAL, entitled, "Buy Now, Don't Regret Later". The author, George Anders, mentions that, while on his honeymoon, he and his wife saw an ad for an Albert King concert. They weighed all the pros and cons and decided that since they were expected at a friend's house the next day they would pass on the concert. After all, there would be other concerts. Unfortunately, Albert King died a short time later.
That started me thinking about the one that got away. I'm sure we all have something in our past that we wanted to buy, but decided against it because it was too expensive, the wrong time, etc. My mother always regretted that, when my brother was in Germany with the Army, she never sent him some extra money to buy some Hummels. She did receive several as gifts, but they were never the same as those bought in Germany.
My "One that got away" and one that my family and friends are tired of hearing about concerns a house. When I was about 19 (many, many years ago) I saw an article that said houses in Park Slope were being sold for about $15,000. I had been a saver and probably could have bought one, but at that time girls, particularly single girls, just didn't buy houses so I let it go. Now, I could probably buy one of those houses if I had about $3,000,000.
Mr. Anders wasn't telling us to shop indiscriminately, but if there is something that you truly want and seems impractical at the time, maybe you should buy it. After all, if it turns out to be a wrong decision, I think you could probably sell it on e-bay and you won't have any regrets.
What's your "One that got away".
No comments:
Post a Comment