The Tribune

THE surname most people probably know and remember is 'The Joneses'. This is the family that everyone, anywhere is supposed to be competing with right now. The question that we really need to take a step back and ask, though, is who are the Joneses (even if you think you already know them), and why should you care. I am writing to tell you the answer is: Non-existent people, whom you should completely forget about and not spend any time thinking about at all.

Since they are supposedly the 'gold standard' for how you should live your life, let us take a quick look at the Jones family and their lifestyle before we send them off into permanent obscurity. Who are they? Most of us do not have daily access to see how the top 10 per cent of people live, so we substitute the "best" of who we have the most exposure to - a neighbour, a co-worker, or someone from your church, for example.

The Mrs Jones we know always seems to have new hair extensions and freshly painted nails. Her husband can be seen spending out and about every day of the week. The younger Joneses look like they are fresh from head to toe in designer gear every day.

The Joneses may not seem any better than you, but they sure look like they are living a better lifestyle. Do not fall into this trap. It is easy to guesstimate the Jones' wealth and status based on what you can see. You notice their car, drive by their house, or hear about their family vacation. Chances are, though, you are wrong. This short-hand calculation works for a tiny minority of the elite, but not for the large majority of us. What you are seeing instead is likely the family-sized version of conspicuous consumption that is so rampant in modern society. Spending money is not the same as being rich, and estimating wealth from afar is like trying to eat grits from a boiling pot - you cannot see the bottom, and you will most likely end up burning your tongue.

Let me tell you what you are not considering. Unless you have access to the Joneses' financial records, for all you know they might be barely keeping up with the payments on that car and home you wish you owned. Their credit card bill might be four-digits big, their table stacked with overdue bills, and their savings account close to zero. This kind of financial crisis would not be unprecedented. A recent financial survey showed that almost 50 per cent of our neighbors to the north owe more in debt than they have in emergency savings, and one in four have more in credit card debt than they have in savings. Another piece of research showed that almost 80 per cent of Americans live pay cheque to pay cheque - and that included one in 10 workers making over $100,000 a year. I would make the wager that a survey of our local financial health would show similar results. So chances are the Joneses are not really living as well as you think.

The other significant financial issue with this approach is that the majority of material goods are often depreciating assets. With the exception of home ownership (and even then, appreciation is not guaranteed), every one of these material displays of wealth goes down in value immediately after purchase - that car, those clothes, that jewellery, those nails, that watch - all of it. Would you want to be on a game show where the prize money just keeps getting smaller and smaller? Do not enter yourself as a contestant in this kind of sweepstake.

Finally, at the risk of sounding like a spiritual Yoda, happiness is not completely measured in material wealth. There are numerous studies which show there is a limit to the amount of happiness you can obtain from being rich. This is not the same as saying being rich is not satisfying, since let us be honest - having money is definitely better than not having it.

You have probably heard things like this many times before, but now you can Google and check them for yourself. It is true.

Moreover, counting the Jones' family money will not give you a measure of how good their close personal relationships are, or how emotionally satisfying their every day life is. Those are also significant components to living 'the good life', too.

The alternative to trying to keep up with the Joneses is simple. Live your best life. Do not live a life driven by someone else's standards. Instead, take control and make decisions that are driven by the things you need, and which are well within your means. Not only is this a less stressful way of living, it is also the secret to accumulating real wealth. Forget the Joneses.

NB: Ramon Simms is a management professional with more than 10 years' experience in finance, operations and technology. He holds a BA in Financial Economics and an MBA in Entrepreneurship. He is a managing director at IFF Lts (www.iffpros.com) Bahamas, and you can reach him at ramon@iffpros.com.