I
was in South America a month ago visiting Machu Picchu with my dad. The bloke
is a mad dog old school traveller but was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
As such we made plans to tick off the final item on his bucket-list together.
It
was awesome. Although between the both of us we have nearly seen every corner
of the globe, we had never travelled together. It meant a lot to both of us,
and I hope we get to do it again.
Now
before you hit the edge of the Amazon jungle and start the journey to the
mountain top ruins, the last main city you come across is Cuzco. Cuzco is a
strange melting pot of traditional Peruvian life, significant religious
influence and tourists.
And
even though there are tourists, the good news is the city doesn’t bend its own
culture to appease us like Thailand or Bali. As such it still seems
authentically Peruvian. It’s mostly safe (although I was robbed there five
years previously on a backpacking sojourn under a higher level of inebriation –
I consider it my own fault), and many of the buildings are from Inca times or
early Spanish settlement.
I’m
trying my best to set the scene because there was one massive difference
between this visit and my first visit five years ago – large numbers of people
standing in one corner of the town all on their phones.
Okay,
so I’m sure you’ve heard of this Pokemon game. It took something like a week to
become the most downloaded mobile game of all time. And I’m all for a video
games getting people out of the house. The only problem was, I didn’t see
anyone interested in their surroundings, all I saw was people looking down to
an item right in front of them.
This
event didn’t really impact me as it was the first time I had seen it, and
thought it was a weird Peruvian anomaly. Alas, when I turned up in New York
only a couple of weeks later I saw the exact same thing – just more people this
time.
As
I walked up to the south western entrance to Central Park, I noticed I was
surrounded by hundreds of people staring at their phone. In disbelief I
realised that again, everyone was playing Pokemon.
In
my first ‘senior moment’ as a thirty-three-year-old, I pushed a small amount of
air out of my nose which can only be described as respiratory disdain and
thought to myself ‘why are these people so focused on the small thing in front
of them, when they have all of this to experience’?
“The
issue is what is constantly being taught by formal education, and by the media
is that you have to ‘pay attention’ to your money”
Thankfully
as I choose not to hold grudges towards large non-descript masses of people
casually enjoying their lives, I was easily able to continue with my
exploration plans, but I did take away this story as it works so wonderfully as
an analogy for how we interact with money.
The
issue is what is constantly being taught by formal education, and by the media
is that you have to ‘pay attention’ to your money. Staring at the amount in
front of you is more important than the bigger picture – the outcome of your
money. The passive point being, the more attention you pay to your money, the
better you will be with it.
“Of
course if you pay attention to your money you will be better with it…. The big
trick. The point every financial commentator misses is this: you don’t have to”
Now,
caveat. This is actually correct. I can’t claim otherwise
because I would be lying. Of course if you pay attention to your money you will
be better with it. I’m a perfect example of this. Ten years ago I knew nothing
about money. I dedicated my life to understanding it, and now I’m here.
But
guess what. The big trick. The point every financial commentator misses is
this: you don’t have to.
My
entire life for the last decade has been dedicated to understanding money. I
did an accounting degree, worked as an accountant before turning to financial
advice. A decade later, I know a thing or two about dollar signs followed by
numerals.
I
had the type of personality to do so. But what if you don’t? What if you don’t
want to pay attention? Does this have to mean you won’t be successful with your
money?
“Thinking
about money all the time on top of thinking about your career, your family, and
your own personal goals adds up. It’s called decision fatigue and is the plague
of our generation.”
I
no longer subscribe to the concept you have to become a monetary version of a
Pokemon player. To have your head down, only concentrating on the thing in
front of you. And the reason is, you probably find it all sensationally boring.
And that’s okay.
Thinking
about money all the time on top of thinking about your career, your family, and
your own personal goals adds up. It’s called decision fatigue and is the plague
of our generation. In fact unless you work with money, you should be doing
whatever you can to put as much distance between you and it so you can focus on
things that are important to you.
Money
is simply a facilitator of what you want out of life. What you want out of life
– your ideal lifestyle – should be the focus. Your money will ultimately fill
in the spaces to meet the direction you want to go.
If
you want a family, mortgage, a new car on lease – you will get that.
If
you want time to tick off a bucketlist with your old man before he shakes down
the mountain – you will get that.
If
you want to become rich at the sacrifice of family and time to yourself – you
will get that.
“Whatever
you choose to do with your life, the good news is you do not need to understand
money as well as Warren Buffet in order to wield it….There are shortcuts”
We
can’t have everything – you only get one life after all – but I’m a big
believer in everyone getting what they want out of life. There’s no right, and
no wrong, there is only those who have sat down to think about it, and those
who let the decisions happen to them without much thought.
Whatever
you choose to do with your life, the good news is you do not need to understand
money as well as Warren Buffet in order to wield it. You don’t need to dedicate
a decade of your life. You don’t need to stare at a screen infront of you and
miss the bigger picture. There are shortcuts.
Firstly,
decide what you want out of life. That’s a big point in a small sentence I know
– but it still deserves your time. If you don’t, the easy and default answer is
simply ‘more’.
Second,
put aside an amount for yourself to spend each week to fund your ideal lifestyle
today.
Lastly,
put aside an amount for yourself to spend later in life when you no longer
work. Medical science is getting quite good, so you’re not going to die anytime
soon. You’ll want some money to fund your ideal lifestyle in the future also.
And the best way to invest is low cost/low tax environments – but that’s an
article for next time.
Clayton Daniel author of upcoming book Fund Your Ideal
Lifestyle
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