“I admit I love money,” said the bunny
I’ve failed in my attempt to ascertain whether some people are just born with a frugal gene and thereby able to amass much greater wealth than the average person. But that’s OK!
I’ve found some great takeaways from the post, “The Unfair Competitive Advantage Of The Wealthy: The Frugal Gene,” such as:
* DIY can be seen as a side-hustle to make more money. Now there’s zero excuse for folks who are unwilling to moonlight, start a side business, or create a product to generate passive income. You can simply increase the amount of DIY projects, like cleaning, to earn more money by saving money.
* The more people feel guilty about spending money on services they know they can easily do themselves, the more pissed off they will be. It’s therefore unwise to speak out against how people should spend their money. We all have our own desires, skills, and values. But as a personal finance writer, these are exactly the topics that make for robust discussion.
* In any business transaction, question everything. The people who get taken advantage of are those who let other people walk all over them. Be thorough. Stand your ground, while listening to the other side’s point of view. Folks who let their emotions get the best of them in business usually lose. Get things in writing, make things clear, explain your situation, and go from there.
* If you love money, you will probably be better at accumulating more money. You’ll do a lot more research on how wealthy people got rich, what to invest in the stock market, how to get a raise, and all sorts of money attracting stuff. You might even subscribe to a personal finance blog.
The love of money is something I’d like to discuss in this post because I finally read a comment from a reader who admits that he loves money!
WE KNOW EVERYBODY WANTS MORE MONEY
The most absurd question people in the investment banking industry like to ask prospective undergrad and MBA hires is, “Why do you want to work in investment banking?”
The obvious answer is, “I want to make lots of money!” But, no candidate ever has the guts to admit it.
Instead, you get contrived answers such as, “I’d like to work on landmark deals that can create new synergies in the marketplace.” Or, “The markets are inefficient, and I believe I can help provide transparency to our clients.”
HUH?! Just say you LOVE MONEY! You want to bath in it. Shower in it. Throw $100 paper planes off your balcony just because you can. Be honest! Those who provide the most honest answers usually get past the first gauntlet of interviews.
We already know that it is impossible to escape the allure of money. The idealistic summer MBA intern who wanted to change the world at a startup is working at a private equity shop because they offered her hundreds of thousands more a year to start.
So for all you money hungry folks out there, just know that it’s OK to love money! And for all of you who are hating on folks who love money, stop it already. You know that if you had the opportunity to make more, you’d take it in a heartbeat.
Here’s a quote from reader Jon that I’ve paraphrased for clarity purposes:
Now I know wealthy and poor frugal folks. But the wealthy seem to share a common trait – they love money. Me for instance. I consistently for the last 5 years saved 80-95% of my income depending on the year. That makes me conscience about my frugality. It takes great discipline to accomplish such a high savings rate.
But lets take a step back, why do I do this? Is it because I think things offer no value so I don’t purchase the object/service? No, it’s because I just love the money so much. If I spend $1, I’m really spending $1^Y. In other words, each dollar spent now is future money I won’t have. Therefore, it’s hard for me to justify spending something I love so much and and not watching it grow.
No sane person would save 80-95% of his income if he didn’t love money wouldn’t you agree? It’s clear to me that Jon has a frugal gene and will accumulate much more wealth than the average American who saves just 4% or less of their income.
WHY BE ASHAMED OF LOVING MONEY?
If you really love someone, you’ll do everything possible to get him/her. Maybe you’ll get a haircut, do three pushups, eat less double cheeseburgers, skip the sweatpants, and actually floss your filthy teeth the next time you meet. You can always let yourself go after you get together. Attractive women with hideous men tell me all the time that it was their persistence that won them over.
If you love money, own it. The more money you have, the more you can give away. Money also buys resources, such as more time to help more people. If you’ve got to slave away at a minimum wage job for the rest of your life to make ends meet, how much can you really help others when you can barely help yourself?
If I didn’t love money, then this site wouldn’t exist because only a crazy person would spend hundreds of hours over the years writing articles and interacting with all of you. Oh crap, maybe I am crazy! At least I quit my finance job in 2012 to make no money for two years. Hmm, that’s not a money-loving move at all.
It’s too bad rich politicians (a redundancy) and society make people feel bad about wanting more money. There’s really no changing this perception that the desire for money, or those who have money, are bad. Hence, the importance of Stealth Wealth.
In this post, I’m telling you it’s OK to love money. Because gosh darn it, you’re good enough, smart enough, and people like you.
If you love money:
* You might study harder in school
* You might work harder at your job to get that raise and promotion
* You might take more risks by starting a company
* You might allocate resources better and not burn through a whole ton of cash
* You might be able to help more people in need by giving away money or time
* You might be able to experience financial freedom and do things that you really want to do
* You might be able to express yourself more freely without caring what people think
* You might be able to stop doing things for money and start do things out of love
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Readers, do you love money? Why are people ashamed about their love of money? Once you have a lot of money, you can do whatever you want, including helping other people!
Regards,
Sam