By Karim Azhari, Year 12
On Friday the 28th of January, Mr. Halden (economics teacher and member of the school administration) gave a riveting presentation to the members of the Economics Society. His aim was to convey the importance of minimalistic living and its numerous benefits on both the individual and the social scale.
Mr. Halden began by introducing the main issues in today’s society, starting with mass consumption. According to him, citizens are relentlessly yearning for the latest fashion and for high-end clothing items, to the point that “some of us have become defined by our purchases”. He exemplified his claim by referring to a book called The Overspent American, which shows that the average house size in the US has got bigger in terms of square footage compared with the average household size (bigger houses for fewer people). Moreover, in order to accentuate the detrimental implications of mass consumption, he mentioned the huge environmental costs associated with it.
Mr. Halden then discussed the fact that in general, there is an aging population with low savings rates, which is leading to a pension crisis. In addition to this, he explained that the self-storage industry had recently exploded; people are purchasing items that are just “sitting there”. To the group’s astonishment, he shared that the average man owns 12 pairs of shoes, while the average woman owns 27 pairs! These numbers evidently exceed the needs of most people, and the statistic sparked the students’ engagement and enthusiasm.
Mr. Halden thereby made it clear that the danger of overconsumption is imminent, which led him to the first component of minimalism: the FIRE movement. Put simply, it translates into wasting less, saving more, and retiring earlier. The secret to this, he said, is to start working at things you enjoy instead of working because you have to. To reach retirement, you need 25 times what you hope to have as an annual income. He showed the group a grid of income as a visual representation of this. It provided students with specific values to understand how much they would have to save from their annual income in order to have a certain amount of money after their retirement (as in the image).
Following this, he turned the group’s attention to a motivational speaker named Mr. Money Mustache, who graduated at 21 and retired at 30 years of age by saving 65-70% of his income. The man’s tip is to live simply, to value what’s important, and to put savings into passive index funds (as they outperform active funds) in order to get a 4% return and save a huge proportion of income for 10 years.
Lastly, Mr. Halden gave a few tips based on his personal experience leading a minimalist lifestyle, which he defined as solely owning items that serve a purpose or bring him joy. These include using ebooks instead of paper books, favoring car-sharing/cycling/public transportation, cooking at home, buying clothing items in smaller quantities and in higher quality, avoiding any single-use items, and buying discounted items to freeze them and use them whenever they are needed. A few students even pitched in, sharing some of their ideas that were related to this.
Mr. Halden concluded this fascinating presentation with the several advantages of minimalism. It is a way for individuals to interact with friends and family more often, to lead a happier and healthier work-life, and to preserve the environment.
The Econ Society would like to give huge thanks to Mr. Halden, who took time off of his day to give a truly enlightening presentation about a topic of great significance.
Join the Economics Society in CH15 every Friday from 10:30 to 10:55 to have the opportunity to engage in fascinating discussions about economics and listen to presentations!
