Hello money magicians,
Today’s newsletter is a little deeper than usual, but I want to dive into these more tricky money conversations, even if I don’t have a clear answer for you, because they push us to be curious, reflect on our own lives and ask more questions.
I’ve been pondering a topic I discussed in my recent conversation with US psychologist and behavioural finance expert, Dr Daniel Crosby (episode out now on the Finance Podcast). He pointed out that money is the top reason for divorce in the US, which isn’t groundbreaking in itself.
What interested me more was this part. Daniel wanted to know exactly what about money was causing the breakups. His research found that most of these relationship ending disputes were about choosing to enjoy today or secure tomorrow.
People often clash because they have different views on whether to spend money now on fun things like vacations, or save it for future needs such as buying a house. But this “enjoy now versus secure later” concept is central to all our financial choices. We constantly make trade-offs with our spending decisions, even if we don’t realise it.
For instance, buying coffee today means not using that money for something else. To be clear, I’m not against little pleasures like lattes; many people find them to be a source of daily happiness shared with loved ones (me included). The challenge lies in how we can better balance immediate gratification and our future selves when making financial decisions – something I explore in my upcoming book Buying Happiness (preorder on Amazon and Booktopia now).
There’s no easy answer but understanding what we value helps us make wiser choices with our spending today. By spending some time reflecting on which purchases light us up and getting clear on which long-term goals we’re prioritising (this episode will help), we start to figure out how to both enjoy today and secure tomorrow.
Long-story short, I think it’s a good idea to enjoy today AND secure tomorrow, but it’s a balancing act, and depending on our current priorities, we’ll swing more in one direction than the other. Which is completely fine, as long as we’re doing it with intention.
✅ Take action: So take a moment right now to think about what you enjoyed spending money on this week and what made you feel ‘meh‘. Can you challenge yourself to make one small change in the coming week to spend more money on the former and less on the latter?
Want to start securing tomorrow? Start our 100% FREE Get Started Investing Course today.
👀 What I’ve been enjoying recently
📚 Your Future Self by Hal Hershfield
Continuing on with the idea of securing tomorrow, we often struggle to make good decisions about our financial future, because we find it difficult to connect with our future selves, especially in 30+ years time. This book shares some great research backed ideas, that we can also apply to our finances.
🎧 My two-part super conversation with Jess Brady
If you have superannuation (which is 99% of readers) you will want to listen to this conversation on The Australian Finance Podcast (Part 1 & Part 2). Jess makes a compelling case why you can’t afford not to care, and then gives you tools to make better decisions with your money.
✨ Join us in Rask Core to keep the conversation going
How do you make financial trade-offs between today and tomorrow?
Let me and the Rask Core 🌏 community know about it by jumping into the Community forum. It’s now only $9.99 per month to be part of Rask Core – cancel anytime! Or send us a DM on Instagram 📨
I might just share your insights in our upcoming Money & Chill episode on The Australian Finance Podcast.
PSST. we’ve nearly sold out of Perth & Adelaide Rask Roadshow tickets! Have you got your ticket? Hundreds of people are on the list (less than 10 tickets left). They start NEXT WEEK! 😱 Use the “friends” coupon code at checkout to save 33.33% (that’s 3-for-2, or 6-for-4!). Secure a seat for you and two friends.
Cheers to our financial futures,
