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_{Exploring the scramble, change, and time constraints}

Happy Thursday! Thanks for reading Intentional Dollar — where we look at old money ideas through a new perspective.

What’s inside?

• One tool to experiment with

• Two quotes from others

• Three questions to dig deeper

• Four lines of poetry for the point

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. These weekly posts represent my simple thoughts, a few quotes, and some questions — for educational purposes only.

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_{One tool to experiment with:}

The Scramble

Not all of us have a natural talent with all the aspects of money, and there are a lot.

The skills needed to invest well are different than the skills needed to stick to a budget.

Budgeting skills are different than tax planning skills; tax planning skills different than retirement planning.

So this is why I’ve come to think money is similar to golf. In golf, you have professionals, avid scratch golfers, hobby players, and then people like me, a +40 handicap kind of person. All kinds of players.

When I play golf, I’m not particularly skilled in any aspect of the game. On any given shot, I can hit the ball north, south, east, or west, at varying distances. But sometimes I can hit a nice shot. It’s this one that keeps me coming back and helps me forget the other 99 that were absolutely terrible.

But golf isn’t always just a solo game — you can switch it up, and one of the ways to accomplish this is through a scramble.

A scramble is a type of play where a group of players hit their shots and then the group picks the best shot, and each hit their next shot from there. It’s perfect. It means that when I hit a ball behind me, I’m not constrained to the difficulties I’ve created for myself, aside from shame.

With a scramble you get the optionality of all contributing shots to the game, and you end up playing better than you could by yourself.

It makes the game quite fun, and from a score standpoint, you perform better. If we use the scramble analogy for money, we can see that we don’t have to go at it solo. We don’t have to take our own strengths and weaknesses and live and die by them — we can get a little help.

Comb through your money strengths and weaknesses — what friends, family members, coworkers, advisors, etc. could help you perform better?

Maybe the investment selection and trading skill you have has created a big tax liability. Find the right team member to help you deal with this. There might be better shots they can hit than you. More deductions, better strategies, etc.

It requires a dose of intellectual honesty, but it makes money a little smoother, and a lot more fun.

_{Two quotes on change:}

Comfort and certainty are the silent killers of productive change. Question the comfortable money patterns you have — is there any opportunity for change sitting at the table?

_{Three questions on time constraints:}

1. What would I spend my money time on if I could only spend one hour per month working on money?

2. What would I do right now if I had to set a 10-year money plan in place in the next 10 minutes?

3. How might time constraints and consequences help me improve my dollars?

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]

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. These weekly posts represent my simple thoughts, a few quotes, and some questions — for educational purposes only.

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