A recent article in a Tulsa newspaper got me thinking that there are two types of people when it comes to creating wealth:
1. Buy now and pay later.
2. Defer now and create wealth.
And before I was able to read the article online I had to answer a quiz about where would I buy children’s clothing. So I first had to be annoyed before I could read the article.
Before I get into any details, and news, about the idea of buy now and pay later, let me ask you some questions:
Do you want to create wealth for the Walton family of Walmart?
Do you want to create more wealth for Jeff Bezos of Amazon?
Do you want to create wealth for yourself?
You probably understand the concept of buy now and pay later, but just in case, let me give you some background.
Walmart used to have a layaway plan. You would put some money down on a product; they would set it aside for you, and when you could pay the balance you could get the product.
Both Walmart and Amazon are partnering with Affirm. Only if you have week credit, AND THE PRODUCT WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT PURCHASE FOR YOU, should you even think about this option. If you need to break up the payments on a $50 purchase, maybe you shouldn’t be buying it in the first place.
The way the plan will work with Affirm is that if you want to purchase an item that is $240. You pay $60 at checkout, and then three more $60 payments over the next six weeks.
What is the advantage? Affirm only does a soft pull on your credit. Another company in this space is Afterpay, and they might not do any credit search.
So for someone who has weak or no credit, you can make a purchase and pay for it over time. Not much time – as I said, it all gets paid off in six weeks. No interest is charged unless you miss a payment, and then you’re hit with 30% interest.
Getting back to my three questions: Who do you want to create wealth for, yourself or a retailer?
Consider a cooling offer period for something you want to buy, like one day. Determine if you still want it the next day. Don’t feel pressured to buy NOW.
And before you even make the purchase ask yourself this question: Will this purchase help me create Complete Financial Choice® or will it make it more difficult?
To Your Prosperity,
Rennie
