{"id":22781,"date":"2007-07-07T16:42:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-07T16:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/blog\/?p=592"},"modified":"2007-07-07T16:42:00","modified_gmt":"2007-07-07T16:42:00","slug":"la-cultura-del-pelotazo-y-el-pixie-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/la-cultura-del-pelotazo-y-el-pixie-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"The culture of the \u2018Pelotazo\u2019 and \u2018Pixie Dust\u2019."},"content":{"rendered":"
A considerable number of people in this country \u2013 I would go so far as to say the majority \u2013 spend their most productive years waiting for the opportunity to carry out the big score<\/span> of their lives. Some even aspire to achieve more than one. Why would it be difficult when they see all sorts of examples around them every day? So they choose to drift through their jobs, on the lookout for some one-off, truly spectacular investment that will lift them out of mediocrity and catapult them straight into opulence. Or worse still, they hope for a series of smaller-scale investments, repeated often enough to achieve the same result. Why go to all that trouble of setting up their own business or trying to get ahead in their jobs for the sake of a mere promotion which, as well as bringing greater responsibility, will only allow them, in the short term, to go on an all-inclusive holiday just a few minutes\u2019 flight away?<\/div>\n
However, although it may seem strange to many, in other parts of the world the middle class has been aspiring to move into the upper-middle class for several decades. They aim to own a stable business or to work hard and productively as employees in order to climb the career ladder within various companies (or the same one) with slightly better conditions. Thus, with a bit of well-deserved luck, they are likely to reach their forties with sufficient savings to make ends meet without any surprises, and a private retirement plan consistent with their career trajectory throughout their lives. Of course, this requires a certain level of ability and considerable sacrifice, which is eased if one manages to enjoy what one does. Achieving a decent level of financial independence by retirement age is the ultimate goal of their progression throughout their working lives. For example, in the US there are large companies specialising in organising the best possible retirement for executives and employees of a certain age and seniority.<\/p>\n

It may seem like an unattainable prospect to a few, but it is not for the majority of the middle class with average abilities. Many others may find this a bleak, mediocre or unambitious outlook on life, but let us remember that we are referring to the future prospects of the majority of our middle-working class with medium-to-high aspirations. I sincerely believe that, for all of them, aspiring to financial security in retirement is neither sad nor unambitious, but rather a success for which one must work hard throughout one\u2019s life. Not forgetting that we must enjoy the journey, of course, but unfortunately life is just that difficult for most of us, although for some it is obviously even harder.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, in Spain there are many young people who have other plans for their financial future: to become rich before the age of 35 or 40. Is it possible? Of course it is, but it\u2019s also unlikely. That\u2019s why, if we devote our most productive years \u2013 say, between the ages of 25 and 40 \u2013 solely to chasing the chance to get rich, whilst neglecting our gradual progress, we\u2019re leaving our future in the hands of an opportunity that will probably never come. And even if it does, we probably won\u2019t be able to recognise it. As long as we spend our lives waiting for that windfall<\/span> Our progress will be flat at best, as our hopes and energies will not be focused on our day-to-day work or profession. Making gradual progress in our careers does not mean ignoring any opportunities that may arise, but rather preparing for the long-term future in case that golden opportunity never materialises, as the laws of probability would have it.\"\"<\/a>But there are those who prefer to spend their youth and early adulthood in low gear, daydreaming about fairy tales and turning their backs on opportunities to get ahead at work, however small. Merely waiting for the end of the working day, the arrival of the holidays and a less demanding job with fewer responsibilities \u2013 and, as a result, probably one that is less productive. With more free time to spend money they don\u2019t have and constantly lament this fact. This not only leads them to the systematic ruin<\/span> but also to the chronic unhappiness<\/span>. Complaining about injustice is often impractical. Perhaps this alarmingly widespread behaviour in our society is also linked in some way to Peter Pan syndrome, albeit exacerbated by constant encouragement to consume.<\/p>\n

However, dreaming of fairy tales like those in Disneyland<\/span> It is very encouraging if you have a clear understanding of the chances of success and what each of the ingredients in Mr Walter Disney\u2019s \u2018magic formula\u2019 for making dreams come true consists of: \u00abFaith, Trust & Pixie Dust\u00bb<\/span>. Having faith in our potential and believing in what we are doing are logical principles that nobody should overlook. But to stand any chance of making our financial or career dreams a reality, the pixie dust<\/span> It won\u2019t fall from the sky or be brought to us by Tinker Bell; we must contribute it ourselves in the form of dedication, hard work, intelligence, ability and, ultimately, all the virtues necessary \u2013 though not sufficient \u2013 for success. Unlike in fairy tales, the \u2018pixie dust\u2019 of Peter Pan and his faithful friend Tinker Bell will have to be created through our own efforts. Only then does the formula stand a chance \u2013 though no guarantee \u2013 of success. For all these reasons, and above all because of the uncertainty of the outcome, the crucial thing will be to enjoy the journey \u2013 that is, the gradual improvements in our working lives that we will achieve over the decades. We can find happiness for our loved ones in various ways, but perhaps the one most consistent with the economic reality we live in is to find it in the well-being and security achieved over time. If we separate our happiness from work, it will be very difficult to attain it. Unfortunately, our society is based on work and production; therefore, being happy apart from that is an almost impossible task. Furthermore, unhappiness at work makes economic progress more difficult for us, thus creating a cluster effect<\/a> negative.<\/p>\n

The pursuit of a get-rich-quick scheme not only leads us astray from the path of steady progress but also seriously jeopardises our precarious current stability, as betting on such a scheme usually involves investing money one does not have, whilst taking reckless risks. If it goes well the first time, it\u2019s only a matter of time before poor risk management eventually sets things right in the medium term. In a scenario where, in all likelihood, we\u2019ll never land that dream windfall, and where the state won\u2019t be able to fund our pensions, what alternatives do we have if we don\u2019t want to live on the fringes of the system? Let\u2019s give free rein to our imagination \u2013 I look forward to your comments.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Un buen n\u00famero de habitantes de este pa\u00eds, me atrever\u00eda a decir que la mayor\u00eda, pasan sus mejores a\u00f1os de productividad esperando la oportunidad para realizar el pelotazo de sus vidas. Algunos incluso aspiran a realizar m\u00e1s de uno. \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 iba a ser dif\u00edcil si a su alrededor pueden ver a diario casos de […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sin-categorizar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}