COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
addicts convince themselves that they can maintain their lifestyle, advance their career, and stay financially secure while they are abusing alcohol or drugs. This is not true. Steering clear of addiction is a vital part of protecting your wealth because addiction can cause wealth to vanish into thin air. Addiction can ruin your ability to meet your financial goals and build a stable financial future. How many successful people have lost it all because of poor lifestyle choices, like too much partying which leads to drug or alcohol addiction, or getting involved in gambling or crime? Not only can these problems destroy relationships with friends and family and cause a lifetime of regret, they can be very expensive. This lesson continues with the theme of preserving and protecting wealth . In this chapter, our focus is on financial risk accompanying addiction, gambling, and crime. Employment and Education. Two absolutely critical links to financial stability and wealth-building are employment and education . Unfortunately, these are two areas in which the devastating effects of substance abuse often appear first. Absenteeism, poor performance, and quitting are all early symptoms of addiction and can ruin your ability to get educated or employed. Absenteeism. Addicted people prioritize their addiction over their responsibilities. When people are addicted, they often don’t show up for their job, their education, family and other responsibilities. Absenteeism has a direct financial impact on employment and education. Employment: A person suffering from an addiction is twice as likely PRODUCT PREVIEW to call in sick to work than non-users . Workers with alcohol problems were 2.7 times more likely than workers without drinking problems to have injury-related work absences . As a result, they are more likely to be passed over for promotions or bonuses. Absenteeism costs employers a lot of money in wages, replacement employees, administrative costs, and lost productivity. Employers are not likely to tolerate chronic absenteeism for long. Education: College students who binge drink or use drugs report difficulty meeting academic responsibilities. Overall, their grades are lower. They miss deadlines, do poorly on exams and are frequently absent from class. There is calculable financial loss associated with being absent from a college class: Based on current four-year college tuition averages of $22,958 for a public university and $31,231 for a private college, a student taking 15 hours of classes per week in a 30 week year tosses $51.02 and $69.40, respectively, right down the drain every time they miss a class. Substance abusing students may cut several classes a week! Imagine you’re a college student who drank too much alcohol at a party. Too tired the next day to go to your three classes, you’ve just burned up $150. Was that party really worth it? Reflect on Learning: Imagine you’re an employer with a significant amount of money invested in your small business. How disruptive to your business is an employee who doesn’t show up to work on time or at all? If you were deciding who gets a bonus, raise, or promotion, would you take these things into account? Absenteeism has a financial impact! Two absolutely critical links to financial stability and wealth are employment and education , where addiction often takes an early and heavy personal toll.
THE 21st CENTURY STUDENT’S GUIDE TO FINANCIAL LITERACY 331
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs