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Inside a New York church parish hall, Debtors Anonymous, a nationwide program fashioned after Alcoholics Anonymous was holding a meeting. It was happening only a stone's throw from a Fifth Avenue shopper's paradise. Well-dressed baby boomers quietly took their seats. At my urging, Trish, an elegant woman dentist in her mid-40s, attended. The meeting began and she raised her hand. "I am a compulsive spender. When I go into stores, I never buy one of anything. I buy five. My husband and I have a beautiful apartment, a country house, and three healthy children. We also have debt that is in the six figures." Trish has found a sympathetic audience. Most of the pain from your financial world is self-inflicted. Excessive spending locks you in a debtor's prison of your own making.
Outward appearances aside, these folks suffer from a disease that can be as physically and emotionally debilitating as any other addiction. Compulsive spending sucks all the joy out of your life. Another dentist attendee that I had urged to attend stated, "Once I was in hock for $150,000. I was constantly getting dunning notices, and I was afraid to answer the phone." He recalled waking up with horrible stomach pain. "My stomach felt like ground glass. It spun me...