If an income of ¥10 million a year can't save you from poverty, what can?

When "Suzuki-san" (as we'll call him) declared personal bankruptcy five years ago, he was ¥70 million in debt. His story is told by Spa! magazine as part of its report on personal bankruptcy. Suzuki is a financier. If expert knowledge can't keep you in control of your personal finances, what's the next best thing? Prudence, of course. People should live within their means. Advice like that, offered to the poor, may be insulting or condescending. But who can't live on an income of ¥10 million a year?

Suzuki couldn't, and he's probably not alone. He's 48 now, working on a postdownfall comeback. He sold securities for a leading financial firm and was very good at it — good talker, good listener, convivial dinner companion, a good fellow to drink with and no skinflint. To make money you must spend money — preferably company money, but if limits are clamped on that, as they began to be circa 1995 when recession bit, then you must spend your own, if you care about rising in the world.