I set a personal goal this year to read twelve or more books (one or more a month) centered upon personal growth. I also figured I’d throw in a few fiction and several biographies as well. In today’s post I wanted to discuss one of the books I recently read, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.
Several years ago when I discovered the concept of financial independence and FIRE, I like many others before me, went deep down the rabbit hole. I read anything and everything that I could get my hands on in the space. I have no idea how many books I read during this time period, but it was a lot. Little did I know at the time, the knowledge I was gaining would lay the foundation to begin my pursuit of financial independence. In addition, many of the books and blogs I read from those who had reached FIRE, served as motivation for me to begin my pursuit of the same. In retrospect, I have come a long way. I went from reading the blogs and books of those that had achieved FI to writing about my own journey via this blog. Who knows about the future…
I mention the above to provide some context for my post today. One of the books that I just finished reading is The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel. You may recall that I have quoted Morgan previously in several of my posts to include my last post. I recently heard Morgan on a few podcasts and I was intrigued to say the least. As I have said before, much of personal finance has nothing to do with money or finances. The psychological factor plays a huge role in building and preserving wealth and the pursuit of financial independence. Personal finance is personal and we are all different for a variety of reasons. Morgan has as way with words and his book takes a deep dive into the psychological component of money which is very much applicable to a HENRY in the active pursuit of financial independence.
The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness
Morgan is a natural story teller and he has the ability to take simple concepts and present them in such a way that they resonate with the reader. For this reason, The Psychology of Money is now one of my favorite books in the personal finance space. It is simple, yet thought provoking. I thought today I would share a few of my favorite quotes from the book to include why they resonate with me.
The Greatest Show on Earth
“Money is everywhere, it affects all of us, and confuses most of us. Everyone thinks about it a little differently. It offers lessons on things that apply to many areas of life, like risk, confidence, and happiness. Few topics offer a more powerful magnifying glass that helps explain why people behave the way they do than money. It is one of the greatest shows on Earth.”
As the old saying goes, money makes the world go around. In the strict sense of the word, money is an economic unit that functions as a generally recognized medium of exchange for transactional purposes in an economy. [1] As you can imagine by the title of the book, Morgan dives much deeper into the concept of money and the impact it has on our lives. As he so eloquently notes in the opening chapter, money and health are two topics that impact everyone whether you are interested in them or not. So much of our behavior is ultimately driven by the pursuit of money because money is the currency of the modern world. We all know that money is required to put food on the table and shelter over our heads. However, when you examine money at a deeper level, it is more than transactional tool. Money provides you more control over your time and more options. Morgan makes the case that this is one of the most valuable currencies in the world.
The “Personal” in Personal Finance
“Your personal experiences with money make up maybe .00000001% of what’s happened in the world, but maybe 80% of how you think the world works.”
You may recall from one of my earlier posts, there were several events throughout my childhood and early adulthood that impacted my view of money. I suspect this is typical of most people. Your worldview to include money is driven by your personal experiences. If you grew up in poverty you will have a completely different view of money than someone who grew up extremely wealthy. Additionally, someone who experienced a generational economic crisis like The Great Depression, will likely have a greater appreciation for frugality and saving than someone absent of the same experience. If you recognize this, then you can acknowledge how your past experiences can and will influence your future decisions. Self awareness can be a key to successful investing in the long-term. Know your strengths, weaknesses, and biases and acknowledge them accordingly when making decisions.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Luck
“Luck and Risk are siblings. They are both the reality that every outcome in life is guided by forces other than individual effort.”
Morgan uses several often sited examples to demonstrate his point on luck and risk. The success of some of the world’s wealthiest and most influential people can be attributed to blind luck in many instances. Bill Gates is a great example cited in the book. We can all agree that the success of Bill Gates is not driven solely by luck. However, the fact that Bill Gates attended one of the only high schools in the world in 1968 with access to a computer cannot be overlooked. The 4th richest man in the world at the time of this post attributes part of his success to luck. If you dig deeper into the stories of many of the world’s most successful people, you will find a similar theme. Success is typically the convergence of luck, timing, hard-work, and talent/ability. Like risk, you shouldn’t avoid the role that luck plays in your life.
The Hedonic Treadmill is Real
“The hardest financial skill is getting the goalpost to stop moving.”
“Past a certain level of income, what you need is just what sits below your ego.”
Such a simple concept but so difficult for many to master including HENRYs. If you recall in my previous post, the hedonic treadmill is a very real thing. The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the concept that we tend to have a happiness baseline that we return to despite major events in our life, both positive and negative. Our return to our happiness baseline is driven by a simultaneous rise in expectations and desires which ultimately results in no tangible improvement in happiness. Put more simply in financial terms, the goalpost keeps moving as we adapt to our lifestyle. As a HENRY, the ability to get the goalpost to stop moving can be very difficult. The key to doing so is understanding what you truly value and what brings you happiness.
The Value of Time
“The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money pays.”
“Money’s greatest intrinsic value — and this can’t be overstated — is its ability to give you control over your time. To obtain, bit by bit, a level of independence and autonomy that comes from unspent assets that give you greater control over what you can do and when you can do it.”
“Having more control over your time and options is becoming one of the most valuable currencies in the world. That’s why more people can, and more people should, save money.”
I have written several posts about the value of time including my recent post weaving in a low-budget sci-fi film. Weaved throughout the book are direct and indirect references to money as a tool to control your time. When I first started by journey to financial independence, I began to view money differently. Instead of money simply being a currency to buy the material things I want in life, I now see money as a tool to achieving my freedom. The freedom to do what I want when I want. The freedom to spend more time with my family. The freedom to travel and experience the world without having to do so within the confines of my “allotted vacation time”. The freedom to pursue my passions instead of working simply to sustain a lifestyle where my time is NOT my time. I quickly discovered I wanted to take my time back and achieving financial independence was the path. I have been on this path ever since.
The Millionaire Next Door
“We tend to judge wealth by what we see, because that’s the information we have in front of us. We can’t see people’s bank accounts or brokerage statements. So we rely on outward appearances to gauge financial success. Cars. Homes. Instagram photos. Modern capitalism makes helping people fake it until they make it a cherished industry. But the truth is that wealth is what you don’t see. Wealth is the nice cars not purchased. The diamonds not bought. The watches not worn, the clothes forgone and the first-class upgrade declined. Wealth is financial assets that haven’t yet been converted into the stuff you see.”
“We should be careful to define the difference between wealthy and rich. Rich is a current income. Someone driving a $100,000 car is almost certainly rich, because even if the purchased the car with debt you need a certain level of income to afford the monthly payment. Same with those that live in big homes. It’s not hard to spot rich people. They often go out of their way to make themselves known. But wealth is hidden. It’s income not spent. Wealth is an option not yet taken to buy something later. Its value lies in offering you options, flexibility, and growth to one day purchase more stuff than you could right now.”
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley is a common book recommendation in the financial independence community. I have read it several times, and if you haven’t, you should. This book is a compilation of research by Dr. Stanley profiling millionaires to include their spending and saving habits. Prior to reading The Millionaire Next Door, I often thought of a millionaire as someone with a huge house, nice cars, expensive toys, etc. Sure, you can have all of these things and be a millionaire. However, Thomas Stanley paints a portrait of a different millionaire. Someone who lives modestly, lives in an average or slightly above average home, drives average cars, and doesn’t splurge on all of the expensive toys typically associated with millionaires.
What I and many others eventually come to realize is that what we commonly perceive to be a millionaire is a facade. There is a difference between being rich and being wealthy as Morgan points out. Based upon the 2020 Medscape Physician Wealth and Debt Report, 50% of physicians have a net worth of less than $1MM. This is in spite of an average salary of close to $300,000 across the various physician specialities. [2] I used this statistic in a previous post and I use again not to pick on physicians. I think this statistic is applicable for many high income professionals. The reality is a high income does not equate to a high net worth. Pursuing and achieving FI offers a different path where you can become truly wealthy instead of simply appearing to be.
Savings Rate is Key
“Personal savings and frugality — finance’s conservation and efficiency — are parts of the money equation that are more in your control and have a 100% chance of being as effective in the future as they are today.”
There are a lot of things outside of our control when it comes to investing. However, your personal savings rate is not one of them. A high savings rate is a very effective tool to building wealth. The chart below was from one a previous post where I discussed the principles of FIRE.
A 15% savings rate will require that you work 40+ years to achieve financial independence. This is inherently not a bad thing. Many people love what they do for a living and couldn’t imagine doing anything else for most of their life. However, there are also those of us who would like more flexibility. A higher savings rate can offer that. A 40% savings rate results in almost a 20 year reduction in working years required to achieve financial independence. This is 20 years of additional flexibility. Additional options. If you want to keep working, great! If you want to go part time so that you can also pursue other passions, fantastic! If you want to call your current career quits and start a new one, more power to you! The point is that financial independence gives you freedom, and your savings rate is a key piece to achieving FI.
Eliminate the PayCheck to PayCheck Mentality
“The biggest single point of failure with money is a sole reliance on a paycheck to fund short-term spending needs, with no savings to create a gap between what you think your expenses are and what they might be in the future.”
There is an entire chapter dedicated to accounting for error and trying to eliminate single points of failure. Spending everything you make and depending on your paycheck to fund current expenses would be a potential single point of failure. As Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth.”
I wrote a previous post on the importance of an emergency fund. It doesn’t matter if you make $100K annually or $1MM annually. If you spend everything you make and don’t have an adequate emergency fund, you are likely in significant trouble in the event your paycheck stops. An emergency fund can help to mitigate and eliminate that single point of failure. Furthermore, creating a gap between your earning and your spending creates the ability to save for an emergency fund as well as expenses that may arise in the future. Another important take-away Morgan highlights here is the need to save just to save. You don’t necessarily need a specific goal (e.g. house, car, college, retirement, emergency fund) when saving. You can save simply to save because saving creates options and options are key.
Finding the Balance
“We should avoid the extreme ends of financial planning. Assuming you’ll be happy with a very low income, or choosing to work endless hours in pursuit of a high one, increases the odds that you’ll one day find yourself at a point of regret.”
I can hear my mother echoed in this statement. She has always reminded me that moderation is key since I am a lot like my father. When the Henry men choose to do something, we are all in.
Discover financial independence —> choose to pursue financial independence on an accelerated timeline —> blog about financial independence…
This approach to life has its pros and cons. I tend to get shit done (or GSD as I like to say) when I put my mind to it. However, this approach could just as easily lead me to a life of regret if I am not careful. I think Morgan is trying to articulate a similar message here. Financial planning is a lot like life. As a HENRY, it can be very easy to get caught up in working endless hours in pursuit of a high income to fuel a high income lifestyle. If working endless hours to fuel a high income lifestyle brings you true happiness, then perhaps what is an extreme to most may not be an extreme for you. However, for most HENRY’s, moderation is a key element to the pursuit of happiness as it allows you to live the life you want while still pursuing your passions and truly living without regrets. The hard part, at least in my experience, is finding the balance.
What Game Are You Playing?
“…Few things matter more with money than understanding your own time horizon and not being persuaded by the actions and behaviors of people playing different games than you are.”
Personal finance is exactly that… personal. Morgan highlights two important take-aways when it comes to understanding the game you are playing relative to others.
First, you need to understand your “investing game”. Are you investing to make money in the short-term or are you a buy-and-hold investor seeking to maximize long-term growth? On the surface, these may seem like the same thing, but they are most definitely not. As a passive long-term investor, I am not focused on the day-to-day movement of stocks. Why would I be? I am not buying at one price and trying to turn a profit shortly thereafter. If I were a day trader, then things might be different. However, I am not. I am investing for long-term growth and wealth. I am playing my game.
Second, you need to understand the game you are playing in relation to others in your sphere of influence as well as the larger population. Due to social media and the interconnectivity of the world, your sphere of influence can be very broad. Morgan points out that so much of consumer spending is driven by social influence. Many people don’t stop to ask if they are playing the same game as someone they are comparing themselves to. You may not have the same income, goals, or aspirations. If you are not careful, you may find yourself spending to keep up with the Jones’ not realizing that the Jones’ are not playing the same game. Perhaps they have twice the annual income and they are still saving a healthy portion of their income despite the spending you can see that you strive to emulate. You see the house, cars, and toys. You can’t see the income, savings, etc. You also can’t see the debt or worries if they too exist, and they very well may. You may be playing a different game and not even know it.
Conclusion
As I noted at the onset of my post, The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel is now one of my favorite books in the personal finance space. The messaging is simple and Morgan weaves stories throughout the books to support the lessons outlined. I highly recommend you pick up a copy if interested. Here is a link to the book on Amazon. I do want to note that I am not affiliated with Morgan or the book in anyway and have no financial incentives to recommend his book. I simply enjoyed it and think you will too.
Regards,
Henry
References:
[1] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/money.asp
[2] https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2020-compensation-debt-worth-6012988#4