6.5 Big Money Decisions You MUST Get Right to Get Rich

If you’re a fan of Greek mythology, you may have heard of the king who, as punishment for his greed and deceit, was forced to push a boulder up a hill. Whenever the boulder neared the top, it would magically roll away from the king and back down the hill. His name was Sisyphus.

I think of that story whenever I read financial advice that focuses on small things without looking at the bigger picture. The much maligned morning cup of coffee seems to get the most attention.

It’s important to be intentional with your money but focusing on these small issues, at the expense of larger ones, is like pushing a boulder up hill – sometimes it’ll roll back down.

“But but but… if you drink a $3 coffee every weekday (260 days), that’s $780 in savings!” – they say.

While true, ask yourself this – “how much work does it take to skip that coffee? Do you make the coffee at home for less? Do you buy a machine and employ the Upgrade and Save Strategy?”

Or can you do on something else that can get you $780+ in savings but is much easier? (you could cut your cable!)

I’m not saying that you should ignore the small things, (they add up) but there are a few key money decisions in your life that require your full attention.

If you get these right, you won’t need to worry about your coffee.

Your Career

Your full-time job is the primary driver of your financial engine. Side hustles, investments, and other financial tasks take a back seat to your job.

Get your job right and you will get your financial life right.

When I was a teenager, I wanted to work. I wanted to make money, gain some financial independence, and begin my adult life. My parents let me work on the weekends but the weekdays were off limits – my #1 job was to be a good student. My job was to get good grades in high school, get into a good college, graduate, and find gainful employment. No questions asked.

But they were okay with me working on weekends. I worked at a takeout Chinese food place (the only place I’ve ever been fired from!) for 8 hours a week, pocketing a cool $40. The joys of minimum-ish wage!

If that were my full-time job, earning minimum wage with limited advancement opportunities, my long term prospects would be dim.

A college graduate stands to earn over $1 million more in a lifetime compared to a high school graduate, according to The Economic Value of College Majors published by Georgetown University. Pew Research Center found that college graduates made $17,500 per year compared to high school graduates (median yearly income gap for ages 25-32).

I was fortunate because I had other options. I was fortunate in that my parents recognized this and pushed me in the right direction.

Not everyone has this so if you do, don’t squander it!

If you want to get rich (which is different than feeling rich), you need to earn more money at the job where you spend the most time. It’s just common sense.

If you want to change the trajectory of your life, you need to make smart investments in yourself. It’s the only way.

Your Relationships

Relationships are hard. Bad relationships are even harder.

When I read this story about Melanie’s worst financial mistake in her life, it really hammered home how important it is to find the right partners in life. The wrong partner can cost you money but also years of your life. Time is your most precious resource.

I was lucky. I met my lovely wife in college and while we’ve had our struggles, it’s nothing at all close to what Melanie dealt with. Our challenges felt large at the moment but have been relatively tame when you consider the universe of possibilities.

We’ve largely avoided problems we could and could not control. Neither one of us had significant debt (I don’t count my low-interest student loans as significant debt, even though the balance was significant). We been fortunate to avoid any major medical issues. We’ve been able to control the things can and lucky enough to avoid the things we can’t.

Unfortunately, I have no advice or thoughts on how to get this right other than you should talk to your close friends and family to get another perspective. They almost always see it, even if you don’t, so if you’re doubtful – just ask.

Your Investments

Specifically, your retirement.

Your retirement is going to be many years in the future so it’s easy to set it and forget it.

The biggest key to winning the retirement game is to save enough. The median balance in a 401(k) is a mere $46,000, that’s across ALL 401(k)s for all age groups. The median for those under 35 is just $14,000.

The problem is we aren’t saving enough. Our savings rate in February 2018 was just 3.4%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It has improved to ~7.0% in November 2019 but we need to save more.

(the savings rates were exceptionally high during the height of the pandemic but have since settled back down)

The second biggest thing is making sure you don’t overpay in fees. 1% in fees will cost you 3 years of retirement. Fees are unavoidable but you can avoid ridiculously high fees, especially when you have options like Vanguard and their fantastic low-cost index funds.

As for what to invest in, you have a lot of options but don’t let them cloud your judgment. You can go with a robo-advisor like Betterment or you can get a mix of low-cost index funds by doing it yourself. Just get yourself in the game.

Your Home

You need a place to sleep and I’ve long recommended you keep that cost of that place to 30% of your take-home pay. That ratio is important because when you spend more than 30%, it eats into the most important ratio – that 20% you save for the future (or help pay down debt).

Your home is likely going to be the biggest purchase you’ll ever make in your life.

The large dollar amount isn’t what makes it so important to get this right.

It’s a big money decision because this purchase locks you into a monthly payment for up to 30 years.

If your monthly payment, plus utilities and expenses, exceeds 30% – watch out. The excess is eating into how much you can save.

Remember, your home isn’t a good investment. Historically, median home values have appreciated in line with inflation. It’s a place to live. If you happen to live in an area where home prices appreciate rapidly (here’s how to figure out how much your house is worth), consider yourself lucky and now your housing will cost less (or even profit).

We bought our first home near the peak of the housing market in 2008. We sold it about six years later for a loss. When I calculated the numbers, it turns out we lived in a 3,000 square foot townhouse for just $600 a month. We “lost” money on the investment but we got a fantastic deal on housing.

The mortgage interest rate deduction is one of the biggest red herrings in personal finance. It’s only available if you itemize your deductions, which are items you have already paid for. The standard deduction of $12,550 for single and $25,100 for couples – but the standard deduction doesn’t require you to pay any expenses. You just get the deduction and you keep your money in the first place. Remember that.

Your Car

Your car is probably the second biggest purchase you’ll make and you get the joy of making this purchase several times in your life!

There are two important decisions:

• Deciding which car to buy – You’ll want to narrow down your list of vehicles based on qualitative factors, then hone in based on quantitative factors. (how much car can I afford?)
• How you buy the car – Used if available, then read this article from Lifehacker and then employ this strategy from Nerdwallet

What are some quantitative factors? The biggest number is total cost of ownership, a figure you can look up on Edmunds. That figure includes depreciation, interest on a loan (if applicable), taxes, fees, insurance, fuel, maintenance, and repairs. It’s not enough to know the purchase price because different cars have different maintenance and repair needs.

• A 2018 Honda Accord EX (1.5L 4-cyl. Turbo CVT Automatic) has a true cost to own of $35,037, based on a cash price of $27,988.
• A 2018 Ford Fusion SE (2.5L 4-cyl. 6-speed Automatic) has a true cost to own of $34,561, based on a cash price of only $22,731.

(this isn’t meant to be a head to head comparison of the two cars – just a look at how the true cost to own compares to sticker price)

The Ford Fusion is cheaper up front but over five years the price is comparable to the Honda Accord. The cars look similar but the Ford Fusion has a bigger engine and that’s reflected in lowered fuel economy, it’ll cost nearly $2,000 more in fuel over the 5 years.

Make sure you understand the total cost of ownership before you buy anything!

Your Kids

Kids are awesome! They’re also very expensive. The Department of Agriculture estimates that it costs $233,610 to raise one child. Just one. And that doesn’t even include college!

How many kids do you have or want? 🙂

The point of this number isn’t to scare you away from kids but to explain that it’s a financial decision too. Be aware.

Bonus: Your Health

This isn’t a decision, per se, and more of a “Hey, pay attention!”

Being wealthy means being healthy. You have to be healthy enough to enjoy the wealth you’ve accumulated otherwise it’s for naught.

My uncle helped get his business associate’s daughter into an American school for kids with special needs. This business associate was wealthy beyond imagination – owning billions in property in China – but his health was rapidly deteriorating due to personal choices, genetics, and the poor environment in China. My uncle described how his friend had to take a handful of pills each morning to help manage all kinds of health issues.

All the money in the world couldn’t solve those problems.

If your body isn’t in good shape, the medical costs will very quickly erode your savings.

Medical bills are one of the biggest financial risks in life, let alone in retirement. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) did extensive research into this and discovered some sobering statistics:

One of the difficult things about your health is that it’s easiest to take care of when you’re young and harder to recover when you’re older.

Conclusion

Not every “decision” on this list is equal in their importance – your health is far more important than what car you drive. Your choice in a partner or whether you have kids is orders of magnitude more important than your house.

But we can agree that each of these are light years away from how much coffee you buy or whether you car pool into work.

To focus on coffee is like focusing on your side hustle at the expense of your career. It’s nice to be efficient with your money but don’t lose sight the important things in your life.

If you get the major decisions right, you can have all the coffee you want. You can keep your cable, eat out more frequently, and spend more than 2x your salary on an engagement ring for the right person!

Get these wrong and cutting back won’t make up the difference.