“You
never count your money when you’re sitting at the table. There’ll be time enough
for counting, when the dealing’s done.” One of the challenges with price not
being value is the swings. Working for a salary is a little like buying/selling
houses. The price changes very infrequently, so you don’t end up panicking
about it. Partly because you are not looking. Salaries are relatively smooth,
and pretty sticky. They don’t go down often, unless they go away (and you lose
the job). When you break from that security to seek autonomy, the numbers can
get big (or small), very quickly. They aren’t real. The problem with “Poker
Money” is we treat gains and losses differently. Often it is tempting to go out
and spend large windfalls to treat yourself in the Booms. But during the Busts,
there isn’t the option to top things up. A challenge in Personal Finance is to
develop detachment from your income. To stop the hand-to-mouth cycle of boom
and bust. To not spend everything in the good times, so that you can build
endurance and resilience for the challenging times. “This to shall pass” is
comforting when people are down. You sound like a wet blanket saying the same
in good times.
Detach
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