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Hey so, anybody catch that cute new show on Netflix? Maybe you’ve heard of it. Takes place in South Korea. A bunch of adults rekindle their childhood passion for playground games like Red Light Green Light, tug-of-war, and marbles? There’s fun, colorful costumes, and everybody gets to stay in this awesome playhouse with a pink and blue winding staircase. Highly recommended for a good, wholesome family TV night. There’s something for everyone!
Orrrrr not. WARNING: Major spoilers ahead. If you want to believe Squid Game is the show I described above, stop reading now and just know I was definitely kidding about watching it with children – do NOT scar your kids for life with this!
Squid Game is probably the darkest TV show I’ve ever seen. More so than Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones (a show famous for killing … everyone). Darker than Ozark. Darker than … Dark! (Gosh, I love all these shows. Do I need a therapist??) Squid Game takes the cake. What other show is about life being so bleak and hopeless that hundreds of people would rather put themselves in the hands of psycho killers and face near-certain death than go on living with the soul-sucking fear and agony of being in debt?
No other show has ever so starkly highlighted the gray and dismal reality of fearing that you can’t make your next loan payment. In the world outside the confines of the Squid Game compound, the characters face loan sharks literally hunting them, threatening to take their organs or their very lives. They face hunger, homelessness, joblessness, and maybe worst of all … hopelessness. None of them see any path to fixing the dire circumstances in which they find themselves. And the monsters who run Squid Game know all this. And they use it to their advantage by creating a twisted game in which the players compete – to the death – for the honor of taking home a sum of money that will solve all their financial problems.
The really depressing thing about Squid Game, of course, is that it isn’t pure fiction. There are billions of humans who suffer from crushing debt and poverty. And throughout history countless men and women have fought to the death just to give wealthy, bored bastards something sporting to watch. Put those two things together and … that’s Squid Game.
Pretty, buuut also where a
real-life Squid Game took place.
Because the desperation we see on the show is so real, it’s heart-wrenching to think about, but I’m sure there were people who watched the show and thought: “I get it. I might consider playing.”
None of this is light-hearted or fun. But it is important for at least two reasons. One, the show spotlights dire social problems and inequalities that many countries need to address. (Check out this article about how the United States is not actually doing better than South Korea on many important metrics, including income inequality.) Two: the bleak circumstances the characters face are very possible in any country, and we should be vigilant on a national level and an individual level to avoid them.
Since this isn’t a political blog, let’s focus on the individual level: What steps can you take to avoid putting yourself into massive debt? Let’s go one by one through the most common types of debt and see how we can avoid them.
Medical Debt
The American elephant in the room. Here in the US of A, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do to avoid crushing medical debt. You can exercise, eat well, and sleep well, but that’s no guarantee you won’t get injured or terribly sick and need gobs and gobs of medical care. You can have insurance, but that also comes with gaps and is no guarantee. I broke a bone last year and had surgery to put it back in place, and it wasn’t until a month or so after the surgery we finally found out the price tag was a few grand. And we’ve got pretty good health insurance. So you can minimize this risk but not avoid it altogether. This is the biggest wild card in life and my best advice is to have a savings cushion that can help in a medical emergency. Because they come around for almost everyone sooner or later.
Student Loan Debt
Just go to college and you’ll be guaranteed a great job with a big salary and benefits! Don’t worry about the cost. Everyone takes out student loans.
Yeah, that’s basically the worst advice EVER. Student loans are sometimes necessary. But I beg you, don’t take out a penny of student-loan debt without carefully, thoroughly researching what your realistic return-on-investment will be. A student loan is an investment. You wouldn’t invest in some rando’s wacky company that you felt certain would fail in a couple years, right? Then you also shouldn’t invest in a degree that has no real path to a well-paying job. Look at what you could earn without a degree and compare it to what you could earn with the degree. Is the difference enough for you to pay down your loans quickly and then enjoy a higher salary afterwards? If not, keep shopping. Find a cheaper school or a different degree or both. Forget about any “but this is my dream school!” crap. College is a few years. Your life is forever. Focus on your dream life after college. Those few years are fleeting and you don’t want to be paying for them for the literal rest of your life.
Business Debt
The main character in Squid Game, Seong Gi-hun, has this type of debt. In episode 1, it seems that all his debt is from his abominable gambling habit. But later, we learn that he took out loans to attempt to start his own restaurants, which then failed. If you’re considering taking on debt to build a business, tread very carefully. Your enthusiasm may be sky high, but you need to temper it with a big dose of reality. The right questions to ask here depend on what type of business you want to start, but they include things like: How have similar businesses done financially? How is mine different? How will I market this? Will the need for my product/service grow or shrink over time? What are my biggest expenses and how can I minimize them? We don’t know for sure, but given Seong Gi-hun’s penchant for gambling, I suspect he was not asking these questions before opening his restaurants.
Starting a business with no debt is unquestionably the best way to do it. You can work a job you’re less passionate about for a while and save up in the meantime for your business. Or check out the awesome Rebel Business School for free courses on how to start a business with no debt. The song Fools Rush In is about love but … it should’ve been written about businesses. Don’t rush in and assume your optimism will overcome all obstacles.
Consumer Debt
Ahhhh, consumer debt. The catch-all for everything from credit-card debt to car loans to cell phone bills. This can generally be categorized as: debt for stuff. Clothes, furniture, TVs, appliances, boats, RVs, JetSkis, jewelry. This is both the easiest debt to avoid and the most tempting. Let’s think about what you actually really need in life. You need food, clean water, a warm, soft place to sleep, and basic clothing. And since these things cost money, you need a way to pay for them. For most people, that means transportation to and from a job. That’s really it. The rest are fun lil’ bonuses we’ve invented in modern life. And many of them are awesome and make for a a happier, more fulfilled life. But you should never, ever put yourself in a situation where your real needs are at risk because you’ve been suckered in by the Siren’s call of Shit You Do Not Need. You know what the Sirens from Greek mythology do to you after they’ve lured you with their beautiful song? They murder you. Think of advertising and shiny baubles as mythological Sirens. They may be beautiful, and their song may be haunting and lovely, but they can be deadly.
juuuust waiting to MURDER you.
Look at Sang-Woo, the successful business man in Squid Game who ended up in the game because he stole money from his clients to make risky investments that then failed. Why did he do that? Because he wanted more money – more success – aka, more Shit He Did Not Need. He fell victim to the Sirens. But you won’t. Just say no to consumer debt.
Mortgages
This is such a hot-button issue and this article is already lengthy, so we’ll save it for another day. Basically, mortgages can be great, and mortgages can be awful. Depends on your circumstances, your life plans, and what kind of property you’re buying. Needless to say, it’s complicated. But as with all the other types of debt, the main point is: be careful. Don’t just hop on the mortgage bandwagon because everyone else is doing it. Be sure you can comfortably afford it and that it actually makes financial sense over renting.
Takeaway: Debt Can Be Very Dangerous Stuff
Look, is it possible for everyone to go through life never facing any emergencies or other situations that merit taking out loans? No. Things happen. And on top of that, we all make mistakes. But you can darn sure minimize your risk of falling into serious debt if you follow the advice in this article. And Squid Game is a powerful wake-up call as to just how important it is to do exactly that. Debt is a heavy burden that can leave you feeling vulnerable and desperate. So don’t fall victim. Stay strong. Stay thoughtful. Stay careful. And treat debt like the dangerous tool that it is: sometimes useful, sometimes necessary, but deadly if used unwisely.