Money Mantra of the Week: You take your time.
Last week, I talked about money beliefs that shape us. Some of you asked for a quiz, so I made a Google Sheet for you to find out how your 4 money tendencies rank. Check it out and tell me if any of the questions are triggering.
This week I start off with savoring the moment. Plus: Marrying Jobs, Okay with Half, Quartr App and 1 For 1 Investing
🐢 Slow down to feel rich
When I was a 22 year old graduate making $60k/year, I used to have nagging questions in the back of my mind like “Will I ever be rich? Will I ever be able to retire?” This state of mind made me hustle, and I often felt like I was in a rush to do things.
Then I dug up an old note about the idea of savoring things.
To savor something is to stretch the time you take to experience it.
Sometimes when I’m eating, I close my eyes and chew slowly, taking in each bite. That alone can take a $10 dish and turn it into a $50 experience.
Conversely, a billionaire could inhale a 3 Michelin star meal and turn it into a cheap experience.
What’s the point of being wealthy if you’re always in a rush or stressed out?
This is now my north star for creating a rich life. I feel rich when I feel like I don’t have to rush. It doesn’t mean that I become lazy or stop working. It doesn’t mean I don’t respond to texts (OK—working on that). It means that I empower myself to experience time in a way that feels good to me. Because 99% of the time, the only personal making me feel rushed…is me.
Slow down and smell the rose beef
💒 Jobs that marry together the most
Flowing Data released a fun tool: choose your profession, and it’ll show you a ranked list of other professions your spouse is most likely to be.
I’m a writer, so…where my other writers, managers and teachers at?!
📉 Train yourself to be okay with half
These are rosy times in investing. The stock market is way up, as is crypto and other assets. If you’re like me and invested in higher risk, high growth areas, then just remember that good times will not continue forever.
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
G. Michael Hopf
Replace “men” in that quote with “investors.” If all we’re used to is easy returns—it may not prepare us for hard times in the investing world.
This is an exercise I try to do: Take your portfolio value and imagine it gets cut in half.
- Will I panic sell or hold on for dear life?
- Can I stomach the drop? What will my emotions be like?
- Do I have enough cash on hand for other opportunities?
It can be even more instructive to look at how we’ve behaved in past big financial events, and adjust based on the type of investor you are.
This is just my version of worst case scenario planning. No one whose portfolios got wiped in 2000 or 2008 thought it would happen to them. (Counterintuitively, the best thing to do after those big crashes is to plow money back into the market when its at its lowest.)
🪙 QuartR app: keep up with stock news from the source
In investing you’ll always hear the caveat: do your own research. There’s a slick app that helps you do just that. QuartR (yes that’s the startupy spelling) is a free app that helps you find company calls, reports, slide decks and transcripts.
I’ve been enjoying their podcast player to listen in on earnings calls. You can play these calls at different speeds or and get a jump link to the investor Q&A.
Investor relations calls can be a bit dry, but I think they serve as the “straight from the horse’s mouth” version of company events before writers hype up or down the information. It’s refreshing to to hear from a relatively neutral tone You can also hear how the CEO and other executives are talking / thinking about their business.
💸 Money tip of the week: Spend a dollar, invest a dollar
The perennial question: how much should I invest or save? That’s a different answer for everyone, but here’s one simple framework to try out:
For whatever you want to spend money on, are you willing to save or invest that same amount?
I find this especially useful for luxury or unnecessary purchases. Instead of guilt trip, do a simple 1-for-1 calculation: I want to buy this $500 gizmo. Do I also have enough after to put $500 right into the stock market?
If yes, great. Put that money to work. If no, that might make a person rethink their purchase.
This can be a good starting point that someone could work up to higher levels of savings:
- Save/invest an equivalent amount to luxury purchases
- Save/invest the same amount as spending
- Save to buy yourself future months of freedom
There are also “round up” apps like Acorns that automatically invest based on your purchases. My personal favorite M1 Finance has a new owner’s reward card that will invest in stocks of companies that you spend money on, e.g. Netflix or AMC.
Just for fun: How candy corn was born:
