In a recent article from Kiplinger's magazine entitled "What 1000 Dollars Can Do", the sages at Kiplinger's pointed their readers to no less than 37 ways to spend their hard earned $1000 (that presumably is just lying around waiting for someone to find something to do with it) on self-indulgent purchases such as a high-def camcorder, a prepaid ticket to New York, an expensive bottle of wine, or even 1  mini vacation at a golf course. Wow. Wish I had that extra grand just hanging around expecting me spend it.

To be fair, there were also some suggestions that were more conservative, such as placing the money into a 529 plan ( college-savings ) or making a contribution to an IRA, but coupling those suggestions with suggestions for high-risk stocks doesn't really do much as far as giving sound advice is concerned. There is a reason those stocks are selling for less than $4.... and readers of magazines like these are looking for advice that teaches money management skills and gambling on speculative stocks surely doesn't qualify.

Out of all of the suggestions that appear, only one is truly altruistic and demonstrates what someone who "happens to have" a thousand dollars with no specific earmark attached could do, and that is to give it away to a charitable organization like Mercy Corps.

What about your $1000?

Now, I am not necessarily saying that any extra money that you have should be given away to this charity over another, nor am I suggesting that it should even be given away.  Rather, what I am concerned about is the casual way in which "financial advice" is pushed out without understanding the reality that most of us deal with regularly.

Debt, lack of savings, unemployment, and the list could go on.  Surely these could have garnered more attention.

But perhaps it isn't the article itself that is as disturbing as what the title conveys. What could a thousand dollars do for you? Would your first impulse be to take money and stock up your wine cellar ( which, assuming you have one, is an expense unto itself ), or would you think of things more in line with paying off bills or saving for your kid's college expenses?

What it really comes down to is this: How do you see money and what it the point of it?

"But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:9)

To be sure, for the common middle-class reader of Kiplinger's or any other of the major financial magazines, accountability to personal finances is something that requires time, resources, and education. And I'm not sure that buying a mountain bike (even if it is to ride to work) truly qualifies as wisdom in finances.