A Bug's Life
Are you a grasshopper or an ant?
Good Wednesday morning,
You’re probably familiar with Aesop’s fable about the ant and the grasshopper.
The personal finance applications of this very short story are endless, but today’s email isn’t a plea for you to save more or to “double down” on your financial planning.
I’d like to simply acknowledge the moral of this story:
There's a time for work and a time for play.
But in my experience, we don’t always make time for both.
We don’t seem to be very good at striking and maintaining a good balance between work and play.
Between saving and spending.
Or living for today versus planning for tomorrow.
And most financial advice isn’t helping.
The vast majority of money advice peddled by financial advisors and the financial media is all about making more money and building wealth.
For example, you’ve no doubt heard or read about the lifetime cost of your daily Starbucks.
And sure, there’s a cost.
But isn’t there also a benefit?
Personally, I’d rather see you “live rich” than “die rich.”
But if you’ve spent your career working hard and saving for retirement, it’s not always an easy transition to begin spending your hard-earned savings and enjoying the fruits of your labor.
Should you be a full-time grasshopper? Always living for today and worrying about tomorrow when it gets here?
Or should you instead be an ant? Always preparing for tomorrow, often at the cost of enjoying your life today?
The answer is a resounding YES!
You should be both…
Sometimes you’ll want and need to be more of an ant.
Other times, you’ll want - and need - to stop and smell the roses.
And you should absolutely take time to enjoy your life and the people that are most important to you.
Otherwise, what’s the point?
It’s sad for me to meet people who have diligently saved money but they’re too scared or anxious to actually use their money to live a better, more comfortable life.
Striking this balance isn’t easy. And maintaining this balance even less so.
But it’s well worth the effort.
So which are you?
An ant or a grasshopper?
Personally, I’m an ant working on being a little more grasshopper-like…
Links & Things
I’m currently reading the book Die With Zero by Bill Perkins.
He writes about the ant and the grasshopper which prompted the subject of this week’s email. He also presents some other interesting perspectives about our relationship with money. I might share some more from the book in a future weekly email.
August 13th will mark the 44th anniversary of the infamous “Death of Equities” cover story from Business Week. The subtitle of this article was “How inflation is destroying the stock market” which might seem fitting given current events.
You can read the full article from 1979 right here.
To provide some context, on Monday, August 13th, 1979, the S&P 500 closed at 107.42.
Not quite 3 years later on August 12th, 1982, the S&P 500 closed at 102.4.
We’ll have to see where the S&P 500 closes on August 13th of this year. But as I type these words on Thursday, August 10th, the S&P 500 closed at 4,468.83.
That’s 41.6 times higher than the fateful day in ‘79 when Businessweek declared the death of equities.
Far from dead I’d say…
Mark Twain once said something along the lines of
The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
I’d say the same can be said of equities in 1979 and many times since.
Thank You!
I’m grateful to have you as a reader.
If you have any questions or an idea for a future newsletter, blog post, or YouTube video, I'd love your input.
Just hit reply - I read (and truly appreciate) every email you send.
Until next Wednesday,
Russ