Is money a friend of contentment? Is debt the foe of freedom?
Raymond has thought about these things.
"Credit can actually give you freedom," as long as the borrower is responsible and the lender is fair, Raymond says. "When you lend me money, you're giving me credit for who I am. You are saying you believe in me and my dreams.
"It’s an affirmation, and the medium of that affirmation happens to be money."
What the borrower does with that money is an affirmation, as well.
Will he spend it on a house?
"Our lodge is where we live, we laugh, we cry. It's ancestral," Raymond says. "It's affirming the family."
Will he buy a car?
"That's mobility, the modern horse," Raymond says. "That's freedom to move around, to visit, to make choices."
Raymond saves ahead to avoid most debt. But he borrows when it's smart, like using an STCU home equity line of credit to improve his home. He keeps things in perspective.
"Don't equate quality of life with money or the ability to buy everything you want," he says. "Quality of life is being able to breathe clean air and eat pure food. It's being involved in your community.
"Quality of life is freedom."
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