ONE of the most important things in life — and in becoming more comfortable financially — is the ability to see things clearly, to face decisions without prejudice or preconceptions, and without emotion. That sounds like three things, but they're all the same thing. An example may help. If a general election is held this summer, the political parties can already tell you which party most electors will cast their votes for. Most people vote for the same party all their lives. When they hear candidates discuss the issues, they listen with their minds made up, hearing only what they want to hear.

Close elections are decided by what are called "swing voters", the one in 10 of us with an open mind. Swing voters, or at least the best of them, listen to the debate, consider carefully which candidate and which party will be the better choice for themselves and for Bermuda, and then vote accordingly. (Some swing voters are presumably just people who can't make up their minds until the last minute.)

People's inability to think things through is probably one of the human race's worst failings. A great deal of crime is committed on the spur of the moment, the proximity of the potential reward outweighing — indeed casting out of the mind — the possible downside. Other crimes are committed as a result of careful thought, based on or followed by a bad decision.

As a saver and investor, you need to be passionate about your financial decisions, but unemotional. The financial aspect of your behaviour is not the only relevant factor. Money isn't the be-all and end-all; it's just one element of becoming a smart saver or an investor. But it always needs to be considered. You know this, because you already consider the cost of everything you do. You might not be willing to admit this, but it's true. Somewhere deep down in your mind, you are aware of how money works, you might just not care. Knowing and not caring is not the same as not knowing.

If you're flat broke, don't be despondent about it, or even glum. Today is the first day of the rest of the week, and all that. Just because you haven't cracked the savings thing yet doesn't mean you'll never get it. Thinking you'll never get it means you'll never get it.

Generally speaking, ships go in the direction in which they are steered. The winds blow and the seas rise and fall (apparently) but most people arrive at their destination eventually. If you tell yourself "I'll never be able to save any money", the chances are that you won't.

That's easy for you to say, I hear you telling me, you're a reporter on a million bucks a week. Oddly enough, the ability to save has less than you might think to do with how much you earn. Obviously, if you're trying to raise eight kids on $400 a week, you won't be developing the savings habit any time soon. But the rest us are just one step away from becoming savers. Just write yourself a cheque and put it in a savings account. Go on, do it now. The cheque doesn't have to be huge. A hundred, or $200 is all you need. I'll wait while you find your chequebook.

* * *

So now you're a saver. Next month, write yourself another cheque. Then, every month after that, do the same thing. Make the number a little bigger just as often as you can. When the number is as large as a mortgage repayment, buy a house. In due course, after paying the mortgage, write yourself a cheque and put it in your savings account. Congratulations, you're rich.

People have told me that this column spends too much time trying to explain the why of saving, rather than the how. It is my intention to dwell more on the how as this summer unfolds, but first I must convert the Bermuda population into savers, so that everyone can follow along.

Savers are like the voters I talked about early on. Some people have been savers since the day their granny gave them their first dollar. Others blow every penny as fast as possible. Between these extremes lie the "swing savers" and it is to them that I hope I'm preaching. Those of you in the choir: good work. Keep it up. Those of you ducking out to bet on football games: enjoy. Life is for living, until you age, and then it's going to be an ugly business. Good luck.

And those of you wondering about how to ease your financial burden a little: we're here to help. By "we" I mean your saving friends and family members, financial advisors, me, a host of people. We're the savers. We used to carry passbooks, but now we have electronic time deposits. We're in the club you really want to join, and most of us got in by simply writing a cheque.

* * *

Roger Crombie is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England Wales, a Member of the British Management Institute and a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants. His e-mail address is crombie@northrock.bm.