Purchasing power is the availability of resources that a person has to satisfy their material needs . In other words, purchasing power is associated with the subject's income to complete the purchase of goods or the contracting of services.
It should be noted that the concept of power has several uses. It can be used to mention the capacity or power to carry out an action or meet an objective. Acquisitive , for its part, is an adjective that refers to that which allows one to acquire (buy, obtain) something.
For example: “Since Juan lost his job, our purchasing power has been greatly reduced” , “People's purchasing power falls every day due to inflation ” , “Mirta is a woman with a lot of purchasing power, who You can have all the tastes.”
Determination of purchasing power
It is important to keep in mind that purchasing power is not only associated with income (which can be formed with salary, profits from a commercial activity, profitability from an investment , etc.). The price of products and services is a determining point to estimate the level of purchasing power.
Suppose that, in country If, in the same country, inflation of 20% per month is recorded, after a few months that same purchasing power will be reduced and the individual's economic situation will no longer be as good.
Purchasing power also varies by region . The individual who has good purchasing power in country X may lose it if he moves to nation Y , where the cost of living is higher.
Psychological effects
On a psychological level, purchasing power can be a determining factor in a person's health and happiness , if they have a profile that gives money a great importance in their list of priorities . For example, someone who for certain reasons did not feel stability during their childhood in terms of economic income may become an adult who pursues jobs that provide high income, to avoid returning to the situation that caused them insecurity in the past.
In the same way, good purchasing power can be used as a weapon of ostentation by those people who need to attract the attention of their environment, since they do not know how to reach others in a pleasant and calm way. Lack of self-confidence can lead an individual to believe that nothing they do is important or attractive; Faced with such a reality, money is usually the ideal tool to "buy friendships" , but also to sow envy .
The real importance of purchasing power
The media is largely responsible for making many people feel that they do not have satisfactory purchasing power even when this is not true. Faced with the constant bombardment of products and services that the Internet , television, radio and the written press try to make us believe we need, it becomes increasingly difficult to focus and objectively analyze whether we are satisfied with our life and our financial income.
This leads us to the following reflection: not all of us need the same purchasing power ; In other words, it is not always possible to classify purchasing power as good or bad , but its effectiveness depends on various factors, among which the concerns and ambitions of each person stand out. It's fair to say that if someone has enough money to live the life they want, then their purchasing power is good.