The Mexican fisherman
“Many people take no care of their money till they come to the end of it, and others do just
the same with their time”
Had a conversation with a gent on Thursday
An avid saver his whole life
By all means, he has set himself up
Saving for retirement, kids education, the perfect ‘future’
That future we are all always striving to, but never reach, as we change the goal posts
(“The common feeling that your life has not begun, that your present reality is a mere
prelude to some idyllic future. This idyll is a mirage that’ll fade as you approach, revealing
that the prelude you rushed through was in fact the one to your death.”)
He told me that he was on the way to the hospital for a check up…
Last year, he had a heart attack
Despite eating well and regularly exercising
Causing him to consider his outlook on life and saving
Strangely, I had a call with my doctor earlier in the day, results for some blood work
High bad cholesterol (increased from last time), which could be an indicator of hereditary
heart conditions - “is there family history?”
Yes, I said, my grandfather, Norman (whom I had never met) had a heart attack at 62
Thus, the concept of the future, and our limited time, had been on my mind
Then this call bought the point home
We discussed how it has changed his point of view
Discussed the ‘best’ approach to building for the future
How much to save, to spend, to work, to enjoy, to sacrifice today for a better tomorrow
And there is no right answer
What works for him, might not work for you, or me
Some people do it with stocks/shares, others with employment, some are entrepreneurs,
others spend like there is no tomorrow “as you can always make more money, you can’t
make more time” - you can inherit it, win it, find it, save it or generally accumulate it
My chosen vehicle - property
Which has been tough this week, as there is so much negative sentiment, and there has
been for some time now
Brexit, covid, inflation, interest rates, affordability, always a crisis…. But it can’t and won't
stay that way forever
We saw positivity peak its head around the corner in Jan/Feb
A few months of record growth
Interest rates falling
Institutional investors (pension funds and the like) are still buying up uk property at record
numbers
It’s been some time since we have had sustained positive sentiment and growth
It’s long overdue
Back to the point then, what is the ‘best’ way to manage your time/money?
Who knows - whatever makes you happy I guess
It will never be ‘one size fits all’
I certainly know that when you are running out of time, you would trade all the money in the
world for more
This reminds me of a story, which I will leave you with, below
Thanks
Callum