Exploring money lenses, trade-offs, and financial anchors

Welcome to the Intentional Dollar weekly newsletter — great work taking this small step to move your money forward. I’m Logan, a Certified Financial Planner™, and I’m excited you’re here!

What’s inside?

• One tool to experiment with

• Two quotes from others

• Three questions to dig deeper

• Four lines of poetry for the point

_{One tool to experiment with:}

Money Lenses

Do you have 20/20 vision?

The odds are against that, but I am slightly envious if you do. No contacts, no solution, no expensive lenses; pure vision bliss each day.

What’s interesting about bad vision is that we don’t walk around and judge those with glasses or contacts. We don’t cast them away like one with a case of ancient leprosy. Instead, we diagnose the degree to which their vision’s off, and prescribe a solution to their problem.

The right prescription lenses can help someone successfully see, navigate, and orient within society — like those with perfect vision.

I think money is similar.

A small percentage of people have a natural knack for money: they live within their means, save, invest, and manage money well. But, money to the majority is blurry: investing is hard, budgeting is restrictive, and saving is impossible.

The problem is that the blurry money bunch thinks something is inherently wrong with them because of this bad vision. They assume their lack of financial prowess makes them permanently ineffective and incapable: “I can’t stick with a budget, what’s wrong with me?” “I can’t seem to save any money each month, I’m just not good with money.”

These self-destructive dialogues keep us trapped in holes we dug with our own two hands. Each time we hold one of these conversations, we dig a bit deeper. The first step to get out of the money hole is to stop digging.

These beliefs create a vicious, negative feedback loop; this is where the money lenses tool comes in. This conceptual framework is like a pair of glasses. When you catch yourself crafting negative money beliefs, remember that you are hunting for the right prescription to see your money clearly. 

It’s not that you can’t budget, save, invest, or win with money. It’s that you haven’t found the right prescription yet. Financial planning is unique to you. It’s why it’s not prudent to advise a course of action without first deeply understanding the contextual variables at play. Just like prescription glasses, you wouldn’t wear my pair and say, “they worked for Logan, so they’ll work for me.”

We’re all different.

Those with glasses know it’s a constant journey. You have to go to the doctor each year and continuously test your eyes. Some years your prescription stays the same; some years it changes.

The goal with this tool is to create a foundation that enables you to have agency, and search for better money beliefs. Like Gandhi said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.”

_{Two quotes on trade-offs:}

Living life is managing trade-offs. Spend an hour here, or an hour there. Buy this, or save for that. Investigate your time and money this week through the lens of trade-offs.

_{Three questions on financial anchors:}

1. What do you own that continues to be a financial drag, and how can you alleviate this? (house, car, boat, etc.) 

2. Who around you perpetually asks for money or speaks negatively about money?

3. Which investments, or fund costs, are anchors for your portfolio?

Which question stuck with you? Questions like these are spotlights for the mind. Reply to this email and let me know which one shined light on a previously dark cave.

_{Four lines of poetry for the point:}

Contact Me:

Content ideas, questions? Reply to this email or reach out to me at [email protected]