Keeping Debt in Perspective

I thought this story was a reminder of the psychological toll of debt. A man who was over $200,000 in debt killed his ex-wife and their two children. Friends of the man claim that he was not capable of such violence, or didn't appear to be. The event ended with the man killing himself.

He was a school teacher and PhD candidate. On his Myspace page, he described his children as "two amazing little human beings".

Obviously, the man had some mental problems to work through. Additionally, I am sure that the stress of debt is part of what pulled those mental problems to the surface.

But my advice to you is to keep your debt and financial challenges in perspective. Not that anyone would do something as terrible as what this man did, but the stress of debt can be very real for all of us. I recommend that you understand one important principle of money management: Your most valuable assets are not financial. Your love, life, health and family mean a great deal more. So, it was this man's focus on his financial assets that led him to destroy his most precious assets. That's very sad to me.

Click Here to read the story.