One of the most popular book series of all time has to be J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
Whether you’re a fan or not, you have to agree that her books influenced an entire generation of young people to read, and that’s an excellent thing.
In the fourth book (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), one of Harry’s teachers, Alastor Moody, educates a classroom full of students on a subject that would be a recurring theme throughout the remainder of the series: the three Unforgivable Curses. This trio of dark spells will give the user a one-way ticket to wizard jail if they’re ever caught. In this lesson, the professor demonstrated these curses by casting them on a spider – here’s a quick recap for the unfamiliar.
Imperius – the mind control curse. “Total control. I could make it (the spider) jump out the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…” (interesting note – the entire time a victim is under this curse, they feel great – like they don’t have a care in the world. This will be important in just a moment.)
Cruciatus – the pain curse. “At once, the spider’s legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Harry was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently…”
Avada Kedavra – the killing curse. “There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air — instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead.”
… I never thought I’d feel sorry for an imaginary spider.
Surprising no one, this immediately made me think about personal finance. As it turns out, the three Unforgivable Curses aren’t just for wizards! I’ll elaborate.
Marketing experts have cast a spell of their own to turn ordinary people into the ultimate consumer. We max out our credit cards and live well beyond our means to have the latest and greatest. We need it now! And, when we get what we want, doesn’t it feel great? Sure – for the moment.
And then… the torture begins. We get our credit card bills at the end of the month and wonder how on earth we ended up spending that much. We worry that we don’t have enough for retirement. That we won’t have anything to leave our heirs. That we will outlive our money. Not everyone is worried about this – but some are literally kept awake at night with these thoughts.
See where I’m going with this?
The good news is that financial advisors can cast our very own Killing Curse to:
- stop impulsive spending, and drifting through life with no plan for retirement
- stop all the worries and pain that go along with it.
So – say ‘Avada Kedavra!’ with me, and get in my calendar for a 15-minute chat by calling 513-563-PLAN (7526) (or book here). I’m confident that there’s a happier ending waiting for you than Moody’s unfortunate arachnid.
Regards,
Nikki Earley, CFP®
