Time is NOT Money
By Rob Minton & John Mazzara
You've heard the old saying "Time is money," right? It's supposed to remind us that wasting time is often what costs us money. But make no mistake, time is NOT money.
I've written it before and will write it again and again: Money is replaceable. Time is not.
The credit card company Capital One recently released the results of a survey they did that at first surprised me, but the more I thought about it, did not.
The survey found that many Americans would trade more of their free time for more money. A LOT of their free time, in fact.
From a press release by Capital One announcing the results of the survey:
"... 25 percent of respondents who are employed full or part time would work every day of the year if it meant doubling their monthly income. What's more, 35 percent of respondents would agree to work on holidays and nearly one out of five (19 percent) would agree to give up all of their vacation days to receive twice their monthly salary."
That, to me, is just incredible. Every day of the year? One in four people would trade their weekends to double their salary each month?
The survey's results illustrate a couple of things that really strike me:
1. There is probably a "grass is always greener" thinking going on with many people. So many people believe that their problems will just disappear if they can only make more money. Don't get me wrong, doubling your income is nice, but there are tradeoffs and sacrifices that would come with working seven days a week. All your problems would not suddenly evaporate.
2. People are too willing to sacrifice the commodity that is more valuable than money, which is time. Like I said, time cannot be replaced. Time spent with your family, friends, doing things that enrich your life and make you happier -- that is something for which there is no substitute. There's nothing wrong with wanting to earn more, build your income or net worth, but it must be weighed against time cost, which is very real.
I don't know if you have kids or not, but I can't imagine explaining to mine that their dad wasn't going to be around because he wanted to double his monthly paycheck. The lesson I'd rather teach my kids is that working smarter and being financially responsible, building wealth, can lead to a lifestyle that allows them to spend LESS time working, not more.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to work hard to improve your financial situation, and it's something we all do or try to do. But trading time for money simply is not always the best deal.
Time is NOT money.
Trying to find the right Minneapolis St Paul area home with the wrong Twin Cities Realtor is kind of the same thing. You will waste your time. Let me help you find the right home today-24 years of experience will make the process easier and more efficient. Use your time wisely!
Comments(0)