# Paying cash vs. taking out a loan

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-cash-vs-taking-out-a-loan/791930>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 23, 2017, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-cash-vs-taking-out-a-loan/791930 "2017-07-23T12:08:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-cash-vs-taking-out-a-loan/791930/42 "2017-07-28T20:47:59Z")

</div>

> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> …  
> In many ways, the childhood lessons of saving money in a piggy bank for a big (child-sized) purchase like a bike or Christmas presents or whatever is kinda harmful. It conditions the idea that the very purpose of saving is for biggish near-termish purchases = gifts to self. As an adult, OTOH the main reason to save is for your post-working years. Saving for purchases is secondary…

I’d agree with most of what you said, except for this bit. A kid is not likely to grasp the idea of saving for retirement. A child _will_ grasp the idea of saving for a big purchase: a candy bar today, or skip the candy bars for a few weeks and have enough for a new toy or game. Learning that will set up a mindset that recognizs long-term goals versus intstant gratification.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-cash-vs-taking-out-a-loan/791930/43 "2017-07-28T22:40:11Z")

</div>

Agree with your main point abut deferred vs. instant gratification. And that kids won’t grasp something even more nebulous.

My point was that it’s half the necessary a lesson, not a complete one. Yes, it’s the first half, and therefore an essential prerequisite to the second half. But somewhere along the way the second half of the lesson needs to be imparted: of all the things one saves / invests for, retirement is \*the \*one that matters. And the one where you can save a little early or a lot later. So the smart leverage play is save early and often.

The vast majority of folks, myself at least partly included, pick up on this second lesson by osmosis slowly as we get older. I knew it in some academic sense and could certainly have shown you the formula for compound interest, but the reality wasn’t real enough to actually drive 20-something year old me’s behavior.

Part of the “rich dad / poor dad” dichotomy is lessons about how the economic race is won or lost by how you leave the starting blocks.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-cash-vs-taking-out-a-loan/791930.md?page=2)