Weekend Reading – How much is your time worth?

Weekend Reading – How much is your time worth?

Well hello!

Welcome to another Weekend Reading post, questioning: how much is your time worth?

Here are some of my recent articles before we dive into that subject:

Recently, I shared what some folks in the FIRE community seem to get wrong, including a continued obsession with the 4% rule.

I talked about quiet quitting and why it might be morally flawed.

I also updated you about our goals and progress to our goals – as part of this September 2022 update.

2022 Financial Goals – September Update

Weekend Reading – How much is your time worth?

I would hope, a lot.

But I wonder if we really think and behave accordingly?

Upon the passing of Queen Elizabeth II recently – I was thinking about this subject: the value of time. The cherrished commodity of time that we all have but it’s not equal. Far from it.

If you’re a lawyer, doing more profitable work than a carpet cleaner in the office, your time might be considered by some more valuable (than the carpet cleaner). That’s because people who spend their time doing more profitable work, making a higher wage, have higher opportunity costs. If only it was that simple.

There are people who spend their time volunteering – with no financial compensation at all – but benefit greatly from that time shared with others. 

There are others who spend their time working on specific relationships – grandparents looking after some children – who expect no compensation in return, who also benefit greatly from that experience.

You and I make plans with friends. We spend time investing in our relationships beyond family. There is no financial or other kickbacks for that whatsoever. 

So, whether you want more income, an improved, personal sense of community, better friendships or other – you need to make investments: in time.

This makes time, a valuable commodity.

I previously wrote about more time being a goal worth chasing – for us. The context is I’m searching for a better balance of day-time work and personal time in the coming years. Foregoing full-time work was definitely not an option when I/we had a lot of debt, but it’s certainly going to be an option in the future when we have none.

James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, has a comprehensive post about the Value of Time worth reading. 

Here are some examples from his article worth reflecting on:

• “Should you buy the nonstop flight and save two hours or get the flight with a stopover and save $90?
• Should you pay your neighborhood teenager $20 to mow your lawn so you have an extra hour free on the weekend?
• Should you spend this week working with a client that will pay you $2,000 right away or working on a business idea that could generate $20,000 over the next year?”

Everyone has a price on their time. Whether that’s driving around or running around to a particular grocery store to save $2, time to clip coupons, time spent away from work, or other.

I think it’s really important to calculate and manage yours wisely. 

A good reminder when it comes to what you value, including your time: any art of comparison can be the thief of joy.

More Weekend Reading…

Just having time, for the sake of having time, won’t keep you happy. Don’t take my word for it. 

This social psychologist and behavioral science professor at UCLA, wanted to know: will having more hours of free time actually make us more satisfied in life? 

Check out this article for the answer.

Here are three good ways to better enjoy your time, be “time affluent”:

1. Get moving – exercise and mobility is huge for many of us.
2. Practice acts of kindness
3. Experience awe – through social, nature or other interactions. 

Phenomenal insights from Charlie Munger.

He recently predicted a “horrible economic crisis” is coming…

Seems dire, there is probably way too much drama here based on the questions asked, but there are some gems from him as responses in this short video:

• On government and economic stimulus: “If you try and print too much money, it eventually causes terrible trouble.”
• On consumerism: “The world is not driven by greed, it’s driven by envy.”
• On advice for investors, to combat inflation, other than owning/nvesting in quality equities: “You don’t need all this damn diversification… 4 assets is enough.”
• On today’s market to navigate: “To everyone who finds the current investment market hard and difficult and somewhat confusing…welcome to adult life.”

Visual Capitalist highlighted where big tech gets their revenue and profits from. Here is an example:

Amazing stuff. Source: Visual Capitalist.

A Wealth of Common Sense encouraged us to live like nothing matters. Some truth to that, for sure. Life is short, time is precious for all of us. Best use our time and our resources, wisely. From the post:

“But there is something freeing about doing your best, being yourself and letting the chips fall where they may.”

Got a birthday coming up? Consider getting some free birthday stuff while you are at it with thanks to GenY Money. 

Tiny Thought

When you see someone doing something that doesn’t make sense to you, ask yourself what the world would have to look like to you for those actions to make sense.

(Share this Tiny Thought on Twitter)

The problem with living off dividends is….

Great stuff this week by Dale Roberts at Seeking Alpha – using BlackRock ($BLK) as a case study for why “living off dividends” isn’t a perfect practice, including in retirement.

Dale Roberts – Living Off Of The Dividends In Retirement Why Sell Yourself Short PDF

I would agree given my approach to “living off dividends” is more mindset than ever growing income that I won’t spend. I wrote about that here. Of course I will eat my capital eventually and enjoy doing it!!

Otherwise, to Dale’s points, I would be leaving money on the table and committing to other downfalls:

1. Focusing on just dividends or dividend yield may push an investor to tilt towards higher-yielding dividend paying stocks – therefore, missing out on lower-yielding stocks that offer higher dividend growth rates (examples: CNR, CP, WCN, WMT:US, or other stocks – and by the way, I/we own those for full disclosure and have done so for years.)
2. Focusing just on dividends ignores other stocks or even ETFs that are likely to offer glorious long-term returns – therefore, the ability to sell shares or ETF units over time to enjoy the money I’ve worked so hard for. 

Why my goal to live off dividends remains alive and well

Remember, even with the 4% rule, as much as you don’t need to follow this rule in retirement whatsoever (and you shouldn’t), by following this rule you might end up with up to 3x (not a typo), up to three times your portfolio value over a 30-year period depending on future returns if you just stick to the 4% rule. 

Awsome work by Michael Kitces below:

Something to consider….as bad as 2022 has been for some!

Have a great weekend!

Mark