Instant gratification is a key sign of modern lifestyles. How do we balance it with saving and investing?”

Billy Joel claimed his Boomer generation “didn’t start the fire”. Maybe, but they certainly fuelled it. Gen X will make it worse. And our Gen Y and Z kids will add to it also.

Progress has meant that more and more wants can be satisfied immediately. From pay-TV to i-Phones, from digital cameras to the internet. If we can’t have it instantly, it usually won’t take much effort.

But not wealth. It’s funny, but money still takes as long to accumulate as it ever did.

Unless you can rob banks (unfashionable), win lotto (impossible) or print it (illegal), there are no shortcuts to riches. It requires effort, sacrifice and persistence.

“Instant Gratification” is the evil twin of the real mindset required to make money, “Delayed Gratification”. That’s Dr Evil versus Austin Powers.

Delaying gratification means not using all of your money to buy everything you want, when you want it. It means putting some of it away. According to the classics, such as George Classon’s The Richest Man in Babylon, you should put away 10 per cent of whatever you earn, to “pay yourself first”.

That’s 10 per cent that you can’t spend now – that needs to be invested to create future income streams. Given that life has certain necessities, that 10 per cent needs to come from the fun bits.

It’s all a balancing act. Living a full life now versus investing for your future. Ultimately, you’re in control.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and a licensed financial adviser.