“Found” Money

Chris Brogan posted an excellent piece yesterday about the way “we” view money.

I agree with most of what Chris wrote …

• people say they can’t afford things when clearly what they mean is that they choose to spend money on other things ( like Grandma always said – “thems does most what they likes best” )
• people spend a lot more money than they realize by spending in very small chunks over and over and over again

I do think, however, that saving is the key. If you start saving early in life, and keep at it, you can continue to save in smaller amounts later in life which should give you more to spend on the things you enjoy.

Every time I have a discussion about saving for retirement, someone always brings up the “I don’t want to wait until I’m old to enjoy my money,” but this is completely missing the point. I remind them that if they save small amounts in their twenties, they will be saving less than their friends in their forties, and therefore will be able to have more disposable income ( all other things being equal, of course).

but that’s not really what I want to talk about today.

I don’t think the point to Brogan’s post was giving advice. He was making a keen observation. We all have a twisted way of viewing money. He’s being nice when he calls it fascinating.

It reminds me of a story I heard once of a young couple who visited a casino during a vacation. Late one night, the young man found himself unable to fall asleep so he decided to head downstairs for a little gambling. He took a five dollar chip he had leftover and thought he’d play a few minutes and then head back to his room.

He started at the craps table and his luck was incredible. He parlayed his five dollars into ten, then fifty, then a hundred, and he kept on winning. About an hour into his session, he was up more than $100,000. He decided to try his luck at some poker. His luck continued. He played for what seemed like days and had his winnings up into the millions. People were gathered around the table amazed at his lucky streak.

Then he decided to play blackjack, and his luck changed. He started losing hand over fist until he was left with only one five dollar chip. He left the table and decided to head back to his room. On the way, he could resist stopping at a roulette table. He placed his chip on red and waited patiently only to see the ball fall on black and watched as the dealer took away his final chip.

He entered his room, and despite his efforts not to disturb his wife, she woke up and asked where he had been.

“I couldn’t sleep so I decided to head downstairs for a little gambling.”

“How did you do?”

“Eh… I lost five bucks?”