Aug 12, 2024 12:00:00

What is a 'tightwad' - a rich person who can't spend money?

'Tightwad' is translated as '

stingy ' in Japanese and refers to 'someone who has trouble using money.' The American monthly magazine The Atlantic analyzes and explains tightwads based on actual interviews and research by marketing experts.

The Anxiety of Spending Money You Definitely Have - The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/spending-money-finance-anxiety-tightwads/679373/

Scott Rick, a marketing professor at the University of Michigan, has been studying tightwads for many years. In his book, Tightwads and Spendthrifts , Rick points out that tightwads aren't poor because they're stingy with their money, but rather, people who are relatively wealthy and have a lot of savings are more likely to be tightwads.

'Our spending is sometimes tied to our identity, so if I think of myself as a person who doesn't spend a lot, then spending money on something that might make my life more comfortable, like a new couch, can threaten my identity,' says Abigail Sussman, a marketing professor at the University of Chicago. In fact, tightwads who avoid spending for psychological rather than financial reasons can feel panicky, upset, and stressed about their finances.

The Atlantic interviews people with tightwad tendencies to investigate their realities and psychology. David Fox, who earns hundreds of thousands of dollars (tens of millions of yen) every year, had prepared $60,000 (about 8.8 million yen) to buy a new car, but when he arrived at the dealership, he thought, 'I'll buy a used car for $30,000 (about 4.4 million yen).' As a result, he saved money, but a week after that choice, Fox suffered from panic attacks. In an interview with The Atlantic, Fox said, 'I was worried about what would happen if I didn't have enough money, what if, what if ... I felt more strongly about not going out and preparing for the worst than the joy of being able to save and buy a car.'

In addition, financial blogger Darius Forou posted on

his blog that it took him a year to actually buy a road bike after deciding to buy it for his hobby and exercise habit. Even though Forou had enough savings to buy a road bike, every time he visited the store he would worry, 'Should I buy something that isn't cheap, even though I don't have a house or a car?' 'Is cycling really fun as a hobby?' 'Is it really worth the price?' Every time he saw the price, he felt it was 'too expensive'. In the end, Forou bought a road bike, but chose a cheaper one than the one he had originally planned.

Rick has found that many tightwads experienced financial insecurity early in life, and even if they're not poor now, the stress of poverty is always on their minds. 'Anxiety about spending money is a defense mechanism to stop you from overdoing it,' Rick says.

In his memoir What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker , writer Damon Young calls the feeling of being a tightwad 'post-bankruptcy stress disorder.' Before he became a writer, Young was earning $34,000 a year, but was fired from that job after a year. After that, he described his experience of feeling terrified just by hearing the sound of a truck backing up near his house, thinking, 'They might be coming to repossess my car.' According to Young, this fear never goes away, even after he has paid off his loans in full and is able to earn a decent income.

Aja Evans, a financial therapist in New York, said that even people who have savings can have obsessive frugality and fear of overspending because they worry that once they start spending, they won't be able to stop. Some people also worry about how to spend their money because they don't know how to manage it even if they make a lot of money.

Novelist David Yoon says that even when he has enough money, he is resistant to traveling and eating out because his Korean immigrant parents spent very little money on anything but necessities. 'I think we learned fear from our parents and internalized it,' Yoon told The Atlantic. Meanwhile, Yoon revealed how he creates another version of himself, like a cool boss, who gives him feedback and tells him to spend money at milestones and events in his career. The Atlantic states that 'When you have financial worries in your head, you also have the tricks to overcome them in your head,' as a way to alleviate anxiety.