Typisch Deutsch: Der 20-Cent-Fehler, der Millionen kostet — Transcript

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1. 0:01Why do Germans work as hard as almost
2. 0:03any other nation and yet end up poorer
3. 0:05than people who achieve much less? That
4. 0:08is not a mean question, it's an honest
5. 0:10one, because Germans are hardworking,
6. 0:12punctual, reliable, and they save like
7. 0:15world champions. Almost three out of
8. 0:17four regularly set money aside, yet in
9. 0:19terms of wealth per capita, they only
10. 0:21rank in the middle in Europe. Poorer
11. 0:24than Italians, poorer than Belgians,
12. 0:25poorer than Spaniards, who supposedly
13. 0:27live much more relaxed lives. How can
14. 0:30that be? The answer is uncomfortable.
15. 0:32It is precisely our virtues, the traits
16. 0:35we are proud of, which Grandma and
17. 0:38Grandpa taught us. Those exact things
18. 0:40are keeping us poor. Today, I will show
19. 0:43you six of them using a perfectly
20. 0:44normal man. His name is Thomas. Perhaps
21. 0:47you see yourself in him. Maybe it
22. 0:49scares you a little, but by the end,
23. 0:51you will know exactly what you need to
24. 0:53change. Let's begin. Virtue 1: Safety
25. 0:56first. Thomas is standing in the
26. 0:59kitchen in the morning, coffee in hand,
27. 1:01looking at his account balance. €
28. 1:0340,000. Saved up nice and tidily. He is
29. 1:06proud of it, and he has every right to
30. 1:08be. The problem: the money is sitting
31. 1:11in a savings account, and next to it,
32. 1:13the passbook his grandmother opened for
33. 1:15him is still slumbering. Interest rate
34. 1:18on average is just one-third of 1%, not
35. 1:223%. And Thomas is not an isolated case.
36. 1:26Over 3 trillion euros, a three followed
37. 1:28by 12 zeros, is parked by Germans in
38. 1:31checking and savings accounts. A record
39. 1:34. Never before has so much money sat
40. 1:36around so uselessly. Now comes the part
41. 1:38that no one likes to hear. With
42. 1:40inflation at around 3%, this money
43. 1:43loses purchasing power every year.
44. 1:46Anyone who parks € 100,000 safely in
45. 1:48an account has in real terms only about
46. 1:50€ 97,000 a year later, and even less
47. 1:52the year after that. The "safe" account
48. 1:56is, in truth, a slow expropriation. You
49. 1:59just don't notice it because the number
50. 2:01on paper stays the same. And now,
51. 2:04let’s look beyond our own borders. In
52. 2:06Germany, depending on how you count,
53. 2:08only about 14 to 17%of people own
54. 2:10stocks or funds at all. In the USA, it
55. 2:12is around 55%, more than every second
56. 2:15person. For most Americans, the stock
57. 2:18market isn't gambling, but simply
58. 2:20retirement planning, often
59. 2:21automatically through their pension
60. 2:24account, the 401 (k). The difference
61. 2:26isn't intelligence; the difference is
62. 2:28mentality. The German asks: "What if I
63. 2:32lose?" The American asks: "What if I'm
64. 2:35on board when it goes up?" The turning
65. 2:38point: "Safety is good, but absolute
66. 2:40safety does not exist when it comes to
67. 2:42money." Inflation is always eating away
68. 2:44at it. Thomas doesn't have to risk
69. 2:46everything. He just needs to stop
70. 2:48giving away all his wealth for 0%. A
71. 2:51broadly diversified global fund, a
72. 2:53savings plan over 20 years, that is not
73. 2:55a gamble. That is what the rest of the
74. 2:58world does. Virtue 2: Cheap is cool.
75. 3:02Saturday morning. Thomas drives his
76. 3:04Passat to Aldi, then quickly to Lidl
77. 3:06because the butter is 20 cents cheaper
78. 3:08there. He studied a flyer. He pulls out
79. 3:11his rewards card. He is the German
80. 3:13champion of saving at the checkout.
81. 3:16Don't get me wrong. Shopping for
82. 3:17bargains is smart. Aldi and Lidl
83. 3:19conquered the world because Germans
84. 3:21love a bargain. But here lies the
85. 3:23logical fallacy that costs millions.
86. 3:26Thomas fights for 20 cents on butter
87. 3:28while giving away 10,000 euros because
88. 3:30he doesn't let his money work. Let's do
89. 3:33the math. Anyone who puts 200 euros a
90. 3:36month into a broad stock market for 30
91. 3:39years ends up with well over 200,000
92. 3:41euros at an average return. He himself
93. 3:45only paid in around 72,000 of that. The
94. 3:49rest is compound interest, free money.
95. 3:52And Thomas turns down this very gift
96. 3:54every Saturday while reading the butter
97. 3:56flyer. There is a bitter phrase for it.
98. 3:59The Germans are thrifty with small
99. 4:01things and generous with big things.
100. 4:03Generous to their own future, from
101. 4:05which they withhold the money. In the
102. 4:08USA and China, the thinking is often
103. 4:10the opposite. There, people look less
104. 4:12at the cent when shopping and more at
105. 4:14how to earn more and grow what they've
106. 4:16earned. Not how do I spend less, but
107. 4:19how do I make more from what I have.
108. 4:23The walls. Thomas can keep shopping at
109. 4:26Aldi, but the energy he puts into the
110. 4:2820-cent comparison belongs elsewhere.
111. 4:31Into a single, automatic savings plan
112. 4:33that runs every month without him
113. 4:35having to think about it. Small amounts
114. 4:37add up, but only if they are invested,
115. 4:40not compared at the register. Virtue 3,
116. 4:43the insurance madness. Thomas has
117. 4:47insured everything: contents insurance,
118. 4:49liability—fine, that makes sense—
119. 4:51but then mobile phone insurance,
120. 4:53glasses insurance, washing machine
121. 4:55insurance, private supplementary
122. 4:57insurance he hasn't used in years, and
123. 4:59of course, he's proud of an old life
124. 5:01insurance policy that barely yields
125. 5:04anything. Germany is the world champion
126. 5:07in insurance. Over 2 trillion euros are
127. 5:10tied up in insurance and pension funds.
128. 5:12Much of it with micro-yields, because
129. 5:14guaranteed security costs return. Big
130. 5:17names like Allianz or HUK are not the
131. 5:20problem. The problem is the attitude
132. 5:22behind it, the deep-seated fear that
133. 5:24something might happen. The German
134. 5:27insures a broken mobile phone for 80
135. 5:28euros. But against the greatest risk of
136. 5:32his life, namely being old, he does
137. 5:34almost nothing except look at his
138. 5:36savings book. Abroad, they even have a
139. 5:39special word for this: "German Angst."
140. 5:42Fear of what could go wrong is a
141. 5:43cultural characteristic of ours. It
142. 5:46makes us thorough, and it makes us slow
143. 5:48. And when it comes to wealth, slowness
144. 5:50is expensive. The solution: insure
145. 5:54existential risks that can truly ruin
146. 5:57you. Liability, disability, and in the
147. 6:00right case, term life insurance for the
148. 6:02family. Everything else—phone,
149. 6:05glasses, washing machine—you pay for
150. 6:07out of pocket when damage occurs, and
151. 6:09the saved money goes into your savings
152. 6:12plan. A single step that brings Thomas
153. 6:14more than ten small policies. Virtue 4:
154. 6:18The culture of envy. Thomas’s
155. 6:20neighbor recently pulled up in a new
156. 6:23BMW. And what is Thomas’s first
157. 6:24thought? Not "cool, how did he manage
158. 6:27that?" But rather, "Well, where did he
159. 6:29get the money?" Maybe inherited, maybe
160. 6:32tricked, definitely something dishonest
161. 6:34. Welcome to the German soul. And this
162. 6:38is no cliché; it has been studied.
163. 6:40Studies show that Germans have a
164. 6:41significantly more negative image of
165. 6:43the wealthy than the French, British,
166. 6:45or Americans. Wealth in our country is
167. 6:48often explained by connections,
168. 6:50inheritance, ruthlessness, or by having
169. 6:52enriched oneself at the expense of
170. 6:54others. Almost one in two people
171. 6:56assumes, in case of doubt, that a rich
172. 6:58person is a tax dodger. Do you notice
173. 7:00what that causes? If being rich in your
174. 7:03mind is synonymous with being a bad
175. 7:04person, then you will subconsciously
176. 7:06avoid everything that could make you
177. 7:08rich. You sabotage yourself before you
178. 7:10even begin, because you don’t want to
179. 7:12become like those people at the top.
180. 7:15Now for the great contrast. In China,
181. 7:17the reformer Deng Xiaoping once called
182. 7:20out to his people: "To get rich is
183. 7:22glorious." An entire country was given
184. 7:25permission to strive for prosperity and
185. 7:27worked its way out of poverty in a few
186. 7:29decades. In the USA, it’s called the
187. 7:31"American Dream." Those who succeed are
188. 7:34admired, not envied. The rich neighbor
189. 7:36there is a role model, not a suspect.
190. 7:39In Germany, people would rather set
191. 7:41fire to their neighbor’s farm in
192. 7:42their minds than build a second one
193. 7:44themselves. The solution? Thomas must
194. 7:46turn his first thought around. Away
195. 7:48from "where did he get that?" to "what
196. 7:51can I learn from him?" Envy toward
197. 7:53those above pulls you down. Curiosity
198. 7:55toward those above pulls you up. Wealth
199. 7:57is not a crime. Wealth is usually
200. 7:59simply the result of good decisions.
201. 8:01Made early and stuck with for a long
202. 8:03time. Virtue 5: Habitual skepticism.
203. 8:08Thomas decided 3 years ago to start
204. 8:10investing. He is firmly committed to it
205. 8:13. Since then, he reads, compares
206. 8:14brokerage accounts, and watches YouTube
207. 8:16videos like this one. He is waiting for
208. 8:18the stock market to cool off. He is
209. 8:20waiting for the perfect entry point. He
210. 8:22wants to understand it all before he
211. 8:23invests his first euro. And so, 3 years
212. 8:26go by. 3 years in which his money in
213. 8:29the bank has quietly lost value. 3
214. 8:31years of compound interest that are
215. 8:34gone forever. Because the most
216. 8:36expensive mistake with money isn't the
217. 8:37wrong stock. It is waiting. That is the
218. 8:41dark side of a German strength. We are
219. 8:43thorough. We want to do it perfectly,
220. 8:45no mistakes allowed. But "no mistakes
221. 8:47allowed" eventually leads to the
222. 8:50biggest mistake of all: never starting.
223. 8:54There is a saying in Silicon Valley: "
224. 8:56Done is better than perfect," and "move
225. 8:59fast." In Germany, we say instead, "You
226. 9:03have to take a good look at that first.
227. 9:05" And one phrase builds wealth, the
228. 9:08other builds excuses. The truth is
229. 9:11uncomfortable. An average plan started
230. 9:14immediately beats a perfect plan that
231. 9:16never starts, every single time. The
232. 9:19reality: Thomas doesn't need 100%
233. 9:21knowledge. He needs 20%knowledge and 80
234. 9:25%starting. Opening a brokerage account
235. 9:28takes one evening. Setting up a savings
236. 9:30plan, 10 minutes. The rest comes as you
237. 9:32go. Don't wait until you are ready.
238. 9:35Start so that you become ready. Virtue
239. 9:376: The longing for a secure job. Thomas
240. 9:41has a good job. Permanent position,
241. 9:43open-ended, medium-sized company,
242. 9:45thirty days of vacation. His parents
243. 9:47were so proud when he signed the
244. 9:49contract: "Son, now you're taken care
245. 9:51of." The secure job is almost sacred in
246. 9:54Germany. The ultimate dream for many is
247. 9:56the status of a civil servant. Security
248. 9:59until retirement, and there is nothing
249. 10:01wrong with that. Except for one thing.
250. 10:04Anyone who has only one source of
251. 10:06income, their job, is more vulnerable
252. 10:08than they think, and they spend their
253. 10:10whole life building someone else's
254. 10:11wealth, namely their employer's. Look
255. 10:15at the startup culture. In the USA,
256. 10:17failure isn't a stigma, but a line on a
257. 10:19resume. "It worked out on the second
258. 10:22attempt." In China, there is a work
259. 10:24ethic that celebrates the self-employed
260. 10:25and founders like heroes. And here with
261. 10:28us, anyone starting a business first
262. 10:29hears from their family: "Isn't that a
263. 10:31bit risky?""Wouldn't you rather have
264. 10:33something secure?" This one question: "
265. 10:36Isn't that risky?" Has killed more
266. 10:39dreams in Germany than any economic
267. 10:41crisis. The reality: Thomas doesn't
268. 10:44have to quit his secure job. On the
269. 10:46contrary, the job is the perfect
270. 10:48foundation. But alongside it, a second
271. 10:50pillar can, and should, grow. A small
272. 10:53side business in the evening, a digital
273. 10:55project, invested capital that works
274. 10:57for him while he sleeps. You rarely get
275. 11:00rich from your salary alone. You get
276. 11:02rich from what you build with your
277. 11:05salary. Let's get back to Thomas.
278. 11:08Imagine he changes just one thing, just
279. 11:10one. He sets up an automatic savings
280. 11:13plan tonight. € 200 a month, broadly
281. 11:15diversified, every first of the month,
282. 11:16without a second thought. He might
283. 11:18still fight over 20 cents for butter,
284. 11:20sure, but in the background, for the
285. 11:22first time in his life, his money is
286. 11:24working for him instead of against him.
287. 11:2610 years later, he looks at his
288. 11:28portfolio and can’t believe his eyes.
289. 11:3120 years later, the once timid saver
290. 11:33has become a wealthy man, no longer
291. 11:35through hard work, but through
292. 11:36different decisions. The six virtues
293. 11:40once more: excessive security, being
294. 11:42stingy in the wrong places, the
295. 11:44insurance obsession, the culture of
296. 11:46envy, constant skepticism, and the fear
297. 11:48of following your own path. None of
298. 11:51these traits make you a bad person.
299. 11:53They make you a typical German. And
300. 11:56that is exactly why they are so
301. 11:58dangerous, because they feel like
302. 11:59virtues while keeping you poor. But
303. 12:02here is the good news, and I’ll leave
304. 12:03you with this. They are just habits,
305. 12:06and habits can be changed. Other
306. 12:08nations aren't ahead of us in wealth
307. 12:10because they are smarter, but because
308. 12:12they started thinking differently
309. 12:14sooner. So, the question from the
310. 12:16beginning now to you. Do you want to
311. 12:18keep doing everything "right" and stay
312. 12:20poor, or will you start doing things
313. 12:22differently today? Thomas has made his
314. 12:25choice, and you? See you soon, Georg.
315. 12:27Yeah.