Posted at 5:00 am
Emilie Cote
Learn to talk about money again
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Last January, author and columnist Claudia Larochelle was fed up with seeing people on social media enjoying luxuries, whether it be a newly renovated kitchen or a stay in Sicily like in the series The White Lotus. This outrage inspired him to write The Indecency of the Rich 1 , which was published on the Avenues.ca website.
“This is my most-read column,” she told us while sitting in a Rosemont pub. I received many comments. The topic touched people very much. »
“If we can raise awareness! “, She says.
In the face of inflation, Claudia Larochelle calls for more financial humanity. “We must calm our nerves with a demonstration of our merits. There is too much economic suffering around us. Just finding a place to stay in Montreal has become a problem. »
Recently separated, Claudia Larochelle is a freelancer. She works in the world of literature, where many people struggle.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Claudia Larochelle
During the pandemic I found people rude with their cabin and oyster dishes […] There is a form of selfishness there.
Claudia Larochelle
Immediately after the publication of her column, Claudia Larochelle found out about the forthcoming publication of the essay La société de provocation, in which the sociologist Dahlia Namian also denounces the obscenity of the rich.
And at almost the same time, an Oxfam report revealed that the 1% of the richest people on the planet have consumed two-thirds of the new wealth since 2020. “While people make sacrifices every day for basic commodities like food, the ultra-rich are getting richer at a rate beyond their wildest dreams,” laments the NGO2.
“I’m part of that middle class that’s lucky enough to own, but is pulling the devil’s tail until I sell my condo,” says Claudia Larochelle. I’m privileged and it’s difficult for me economically, so I keep asking myself: but how do people do it? »
As a consumer, Claudia Larochelle has changed her habits significantly: those who love clothes now often buy them second-hand. His restaurant trips have also become rare. “Now we have access to the wealth of others on social media and we’re not insensitive to everything we see,” she admits.
His environmental awareness is a source of guilt. She gets the same feeling when she has to accept that she is denied her daughter a summer camp because it is too expensive.
Confused in our choices
How can we talk about consumption or money in such a context?
“No shame. This is what Béatrice Bernard-Poulin, who runs a blog that now bears her first name but used to be called Eille la cheap, advocates! 3
His goal: “Help Quebec women live better for less”, according to their values and budget.
The young woman advocates respecting everyone’s financial reality, starting with ours. How ? By limiting our spending to what really matters to us. The author of the book Growing Up is Expensive! agrees that maintaining a healthy or moderate relationship with consumption can become increasingly difficult. On the one hand, we are bombarded with promo codes on TikTok. On the other hand they advocate thrift, zero waste or early financial freedom (FIRE movement).
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Beatrice Bernhard Poulin
We will not educate them by shaming people about their spending.
Beatrice Bernhard Poulin
For what ? Because we underestimate how stressful money can be.
If not discussing the performance of your TFSA with a loved one who is in debt comes naturally, perhaps developing a sensitivity is to give a recently separated parent the choice of having dinner at home rather than in one Restaurant.
“You have to assert yourself,” adds the self-described “repentant former overconsumer.” “Often we feel ashamed and think that people will judge us, but the opposite happens. »
“Everyone has their financial reality and that’s okay. »
Show financial empathy
Michael G. Thomas, a professor at the University of Georgia and a trained financial adviser, in his presentation (TED Talk) titled “Financial Empathy: Understanding the Story Beneath the Numbers” 4 gives the example of a single mother telling her accountant that with With her tax refund she wants to buy a large flat screen TV.
From the start, many may condemn her, but things are different when we learn that the woman wants to keep her two teenagers in her apartment, away from the drug dealers of her underprivileged neighborhood.
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY MICHAEL G. THOMAS
Michael G. Thomas, Professor and Financial Advisor at the University of Georgia
“We all have a history of money that influences our financial decisions,” argues Michael G. Thomas, who we spoke to over Zoom.
When you develop financial empathy, you create a “safe space” where people can share their financial vulnerabilities without shame. “You have to try to understand the context of life that influences everyone’s choices. »
In order to do this, however, it is necessary to practice a precise form of empathy, namely compassion, stresses Michael G. Thomas.
“It’s not fair to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, but it means caring about the other person and recognizing their feelings. »
Through this process, which he teaches financial advisors in particular, people end up learning more about themselves than about others, observes Michael G. Thomas. “Sometimes it is even a confrontation. »
Michael G. Thomas, for example, says he has a frugal temperament because he suffered too much at the fact that his mother was discouraged by the columns of numbers she kept adding to a piece of paper.
“You often hear people say, ‘I’m not good with money.’ During this time, I ask them to tell me about an event where they didn’t make the right decision. »
When people understand the context of certain financial regrets (e.g., a divorce or depression), they feel less shame and guilt.
“Money doesn’t define us,” recalls the man who will publish a book on April 13 called Black Financial Culture: Building Wealth from the Inside Out.
We must also remember that marketing and social media create what he calls “emotional deficits.”
“There will always be someone with a bigger car and a bigger house. As you get to know yourself better financially, you will feel less trapped in a system. »
“You have to follow your own compass,” concludes Michael G. Thomas.
Understand the buying impulse
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To use the financial compass image, why is it so easy to lose direction?
Since 2018, economist François Delorme has been teaching a behavioral economics course at the University of Sherbrooke, which can certainly help us to have more “introspection” about how we consume and what drives us to buy two products. I didn’t know it existed until we saw a two-for-one promo.
Traditional economics is based on the assumption of perfect rationality, explains the former chief economist at Industry Canada. But in reality, consumers are not cold, calculating creatures who can control their impulses and see the longer-term effects of their decisions today.
If that were the case, people wouldn’t be buying gas-powered Range Rover SUVs, the economist jokes.
“Behavioural economics means that it is not true that we are rational all the time […] It assumes that we have cognitive biases. There are psychological barriers to doing what we need to do but don’t do. »
“Buying a bag of chips feels good for 10 minutes and then you’re like, ‘I shouldn’t have done that,'” illustrates François Delorme.
PHOTO FROM UNIVERSITY OF SHERBROOKE WEBSITE
Francois Delorme, economist
Since we cannot regulate and control our urges ourselves, this leads to overconsumption.
Francois Delorme, economist
Delorme also cites a 2010 study by economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, which found that beyond a $75,000 annual income threshold, a person’s happiness relative to money stops growing.
The solution ? Limit the public around you. According to François Delorme, it should even be banned.
“Advertising leads us to consume things that are not necessary and makes us position ourselves in relation to others,” explains the man who appears in Isabelle Maréchal’s recent documentary The Middle Class. I buy something because the neighbor has it. There is an imitation, especially for the middle class who aspire to the same lifestyle as the wealthiest […] This is accompanied by a social status. »
“It takes self-observation,” sums up the economist, who co-signed the book “The hour of choice: in the face of climate and social emergency” with Gérald Fillion and advocates the passing of laws that limit individual CO2 emissions.
“The Forces of Trade”
Our child needs new pants. Our budget is tight. Do you buy pants for $10 from a fast fashion chain like H&M or Joe Fresh, or pay five times the price to have them made in Quebec? The choice of the environment or savings? It’s certainly a moral dilemma that was less relevant in the days when Zellers’ slogan was “Where the Lowest Price Rules”.
“Twenty years ago, there were trading forces that didn’t exist,” recalls historian Catherine Tourangeau. My mother, who is from Lanaudière, had to go to Joliette if she wanted clothes, and there were three shops. »
“Credit cards are being used massively, which is something relatively new,” adds the one who can be heard on the airwaves by Pénélope at the ICI premiere.
Fast fashion, planned obsolescence and e-commerce have also changed our consumer behavior.
Many people say to themselves, “I’m educated, but I’ve lost control.” It’s crazy how many things someone owns today compared to 50 years ago.
Catherine Tourangeau, historian
There is certainly more and more talk of slower and more sustainable consumption. “But it remains confidential […] We’re still much more into quantity than quality, and social media isn’t helping. We always have the reflection of others who have more on their faces than we do,” Catherine Tourangeau argues.
The historian therefore advocates more financial education, both in relation to personal and public finances. Budgeting is important, but so is understanding how taxes redistribute wealth.
“In Quebec you can live well with an average salary. In the United States, there is another level of concern, “points out the historian, who studied in the state of Connecticut and returned to Quebec for its social safety net. It’s a chance for maternity leave, a universal healthcare system, and access to affordable higher education, she recalls.
Women who lead by example
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More and more women are talking about money. What if their initiatives helped dispel the discomfort and guilt that comes with it?
Two weeks ago, Isabelle Racicot hosted a virtual conference for women entitled “Dare to invest” on behalf of the National Bank.
“We know that money can be taboo,” she explained in the introduction. It’s a sensitive, delicate subject. […] which is often accompanied by a feeling of shame. Too bad you don’t make enough money. He is ashamed that he does not take sufficient care of his business. shame to go into debt […] On the other hand, shame about earning money, especially among women. »
Like the conference that brought together three women executives from the National Bank, we are witnessing a movement of women – and communities on the internet – democratizing the discourse on money by embracing the notion of financial health.
Karman Kong, for example, has just published the book Elle Invested (with Éditions du Journal). She is one of the many bloggers and speakers explaining how to take care of your finances and showing that investing is affordable for everyone. Including Catherine Poirier (The Clever Frugalist), Véronique Gagnon (Manage Your Bacon) and Véronique Joanis (Let’s Talk Money).
Rosie Delorme also takes an integrative approach with her blog and podcast, Nantie.ca. His interest in personal finance was sparked by an unpaid bill from a client for $10,000. Instead of being angry, she felt guilty. “What is typically female,” launches the woman who has just had a baby.
Recently, Rosie Delorme reported on her stock dividends in a piece published on her blog1. “I sound about my business and say I want to be successful, but I’m like Mr. and Mrs. Everybody. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ROSIE DELORME
Rosie Delorme has been blogging at Nantie.ca since 2019.
I used to be zero and one cash, but it’s not difficult to learn and take care of your finances. The fact that you feel in your pocket means you won’t go to the bank to multiply your money.
Rosie Delorme
Talking about money is no longer reserved for “men in ties,” she says. “And it’s wrong to think that being interested in caring about money goes hand in hand with having lots of it. »
Leave the self-made man
What a paradox that women have long been left out of the conversation about finances while managing the family budget, points out Béatrice Bernard-Poulin, another prominent blogger and author of the books It’s Expensive to Grow Up! and live better for less.
The latter attended the conference two weeks ago organized by Youcef Ghellache, professor of finance at the Collège Montmorency, founder of the website Éducfinance and founder of the Facebook group Money never sleeps2.
“The majority of participants were women,” she says. There’s really something going on there. »
Historian Catherine Tourangeau believes that women humanize conversations about money. A change that everyone could benefit from. “We are moving away from the discourse of the self-made man. she notices. Because we’ve talked about privilege and who benefits from certain structures, I think there’s an awareness that wealth is no longer just a matter of hard work and merit. »
Especially in Quebec, where “social circles are more diverse.” “The fact that more women are making money is changing the dynamic,” she adds. I feel like we’re moving towards more transparency and more honesty about our resources. »