Many people who strive to be rich and achieve the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) status think it’s about getting rich. They are missing the point. Money is not your most valuable asset. Time is the most valuable asset. You can always make more money. You can never get back time that you spent.
This blog is all about reaching financial independence. To many people, it means making as much money as possible. To many people, it means getting to a point where you are so rich, you don’t work. That is not the end goal and FIRE is never about not working. FIRE is about getting to a point where you work because you want to not because you have to. At the end of the day, it’s about freedom not about getting rich.
When I didn’t know anything about money, I was bombarded with the media’s depiction of the rich and wealthy. The wealthy owns vintage model cars and owns 30 houses. They spend $1,000 in a single dinner and live a stress, worry free life. It couldn’t be further from the truth.
Inflation Silently Eats You Alive
Money is not the end goal because it’s a depreciating asset. Every year, a dollar is worth less than the year before because of inflation. As a result, standing still with your money is dangerous as it will eventually and inevitably be worthless. It will be left behind in the dust whether you like it or not.
Additionally, the ability to make more money is infinite. No matter how old you are, there will never be a shortage of ways that you can make money. It will always exist. However, you will never buy additional time. Everyone, every celebrities, from Donald Trump to Mark Cuban to you work under the same 24 hours a day.
Sure, people figure out a way to save time by doing things more efficiently or paying someone to mow the lawn. However, saving time is the best we can do and we cannot create more time for us to enjoy living. Therefore, money is not the end goal, time is. That is why time is the most valuable asset, much more valuable than money.
Accept That Time is the Most Valuable Asset
Consumerism media in America has us believe that to be happy, we have to own stuff. They have you believe that buying things that you want will make you feel good. I mean, look at that rich guy over there, he drives a brand new Tesla Model 3, takes pictures with the latest iPhone 12 Pro, and lives in an 8,000 square feet mansion. Don’t you want the same lifestyle? It’s time to get on it!
What they forget to mention is that buying stuff does make you feel good. It makes you feel powerful and rewarded for working so hard during the day. What the consumerism media fails to tell you is that it temporarily makes you feel good and never permanently. Once the high of owning and using stuff that you haven’t had before, you start chasing the next high. Which begins to trap you in the old proverbial saying, “the rat race.”
The next thing you know, you’re buying a Nicholas Cage throw pillow on Amazon and going down a downward spiral without braking.
All of the clever marketing and psychological tricks that companies use are doing their best to extract money out of your wallet into their wallet. In other words, they are trying their hardest to distract you from realizing that time is the most valuable asset. Pure and simple. Every time you buy something for one dollar, you are giving way one unit of free time. That is not fair to your future self.
As a smart reader of my blog, you’ll realize that this isn’t what you want out of life. What you really want is freedom, not stuff. You want a permanent solution to a long term problem, not a temporary solution. You want to save and keep as much money as you possibly can so that when you do retire, you are financially secure.
Make it a Habit and It Won’t Be Strange To You
I became obsessed with money at a young age. Every time my mom consumed things that cost more than $100, she would say to be “do you have any idea how much $100 is?” Honestly, I was young, around 10 years old, so I was clueless! The moment still never left me and planted the seed in becoming financially literate and wealthy. Truly wealthy and not look wealthy.
After college, it was off to the races. It was a huge challenge to save 50%+ of my income, especially since my income was so low to start with. I remember telling my friends things I would do to save money and he would hit me with the “dude, that sounds like so much work… why?”
What helped in running my finances like clockwork and avoid being aware of that question was automating everything. It was unnecessary to track how much I was saving when everything I had already done was done for me. I automatically contributed enough to max out my 401k and health savings accounts (HSAs). Credit card bills, utilities, rent, etc. was on autopay.
Now, four and a half short years later, I don’t think twice about things I purchase. If I’m purchasing online, then I use my Bank of America credit card that gives me 3% cash back. If I’m out and about, anytime I have an urge for impulse purchases, I quickly recall my “fun budget” for the month and decide against or for it.
The decision making process runs like clockwork in my head and none of the complicated considerations stand in my way now. Eventually, it will be like that for you as well. Let’s both save and invest a boatload of money so some day we will never have to work for someone else again.
