Don’t Lose Sight of Money’s True Cost

Andy Snyder|March 24, 2021

We’ve got a bottle baby on the farm.

She’s a 3-week-old lamb with a mother that couldn’t afford her. The old ewe didn’t have enough milk.

But here’s the thing about baby sheep. They’re just like us.

They’re greedy little buggers.

A young sheep – like almost all ruminants – will eat and eat until there’s nothing left to eat. If we fill a bottle full, she’ll gladly drink.

But it will kill her.

The milk will fill the wrong part of her stomach and eventually set the whole body into a chemically imbalanced mess.

First, she’ll go blind. Then she’ll fall over dead.

Of course, the opposite is true too. If we skimp on the milk… she’ll waste away.

It’s a miserable conundrum. But discipline saves lives.

It’s true in sheep… and money.

Wise Words

The idea is on our mind because we read a piece we thought we’d share with you this morning.

We get nothing out of sharing this piece penned by Vitaliy Katsenelson – we don’t even know the fellow. But we like the way he thinks… and bet you will too.

In the piece, he writes about the value of money. More specifically, he writes about what we must trade for our money.

Money, of course, isn’t free. Even the “thanks for voting” cash the president just shoved into your checking account comes with a price.

Unlike with the lamb in our barn this morning, too much money may not kill you. But too much greed will surely throw things out of whack and make you blind to what matters most.

Here’s what Mr. Katsenelson says of Warren Buffett…

So when you covet Buffett’s success, do it holistically too. Not just the empire he built and the billions he accumulated (that he’ll give away anyway) but the life he led. Buffett’s obsession with the stock market was anything but healthy. He got tomorrow’s newspaper delivered to him the evening before. He spent every living moment in his study, completely neglecting his wife and children. His wife, the love of his life, could not take this anymore and left him.

We don’t know how much of the idea is true. We’ve never felt the need to dive into a stranger’s personal life. But it makes sense.

We’ve talked with plenty of unhappy billionaires… and even wrote about their woes a time or two.

Given their woes… given your woes… how much money is enough?

It’s a question we’ve pondered often.

The answer leads to a refrain we repeat often. We don’t know, we say, but Warren Buffett still goes to work each day.

He’ll turn 91 this summer.

Because We Can

It makes us wonder… Why does our little lamb want all that milk? Why does a 90-year-old fella with $82 billion want $83 billion?

The answer isn’t what you think.

The lamb isn’t programmed to drink all she can because it will make her big and strong. It won’t make her the fastest and fittest in the flock.

It will kill her.

It’s not survival of the fittest.

It’s the same with Uncle Warren. It’s true that a millionaire tends to live nine years longer than his poorer brother. But when was the last time somebody bought a share of Tesla (TSLA) with health on their mind?

Nope. There’s something else at play.

After many years of scratching our head… many prayers said over lifeless bodies (animal and human)… and many years watching the rich, the poor and the miserable, we humbly say we have the answer.

We want to drink more milk and get more money for just one reason… Because we can.

What’s Your Number?

You see, in the natural world, our lamb would never be allowed to overeat. Her mother’s teat drips only so much. There’s no threat of filling the stomach and going blind.

It’s no different in the world of money.

Guys like Buffett, Bezos and Musk aren’t working in the natural world. They’ve found a limitless teat to suckle. They want more money… you want more money… and we want more money… so the government keeps printing the darn stuff just to keep us all happy (and voting).

It’s not normal. But then again, neither is sticking a bottle in a lamb’s mouth.

We’re doing what we think is right for the animal. But whether we’re printing money or heating up a batch of milk… we’re doing the unnatural.

It’s up to us to ensure we don’t overdrink – a mighty and tough responsibility.

So here’s our challenge.

Understand that money is important – very important. But understand its full costs – to you, to society and to those you love more than money.

We say set a figure. What will it take to get you to your goal? What will give you the life you want?

Know it. Manage toward it. And don’t raise the bar just because you can.

It will cost you more than you think.

Sheep go blind if they overindulge.

Humans lose sight in other ways.

What’s your number? What do you need for the life you want? Feel free to share it at mailbag@manwardpress.com.