Dave Sather: What exactly does money buy?
Published 4:15 am Wednesday, September 17, 2025
I recently had a provocative conversation with my neighbor. Travis, who is 20 years old, told me he worked his tail off and saved $6,000 from summer jobs. He is also looking to switch to a full-time job.
I told him that was impressive and asked how he planned on investing the money.
He said, “I’m getting new rims for my truck.”
I stopped and reminded Travis that he said multiple times he plans on being a millionaire.
Travis popped off and said, “My plan may need work, but I’ll get there.”
The skeptical look on my face caused Travis to say, “You doubt me?”
Loading …Despite Travis showing his youth, he is a smart kid with a big work ethic. He is generally willing to listen to advice.
As such, I asked him, “What do you think money buys?”
Travis looked at me a bit confused. He said it allows him to buy stuff.
As we continued our conversation, I said money is the way we account for our financial net worth. However, the more we spend, the lower the net worth. Travis began to contemplate.
I reminded him of the job he had last summer. He always complained about the job but said he needed the money.
This gave us the basis to have a deeper conversation.
Money buys freedom. It buys the freedom to leave a toxic workplace. It allows you to buy healthcare. It allows you to care for your family and spend quality time with them.
Money doesn’t buy happiness but offers flexibility and freedom. If your problems can be solved with money, you don’t have true problems.
The more you spend, the more you jeopardize your family, flexibility and future.
Travis thanked me for the input but reminded me he is only 20 years old. He has lots of time.
When I was Travis’s age I had lots of big ideas, but elders quickly reminded me I was too young.
As such, I told him his age is like a superpower. But only if he acted wisely.
The easiest way to become wealthy and gain true autonomy is to religiously save and invest. The earlier the better. But if he waited until his 40’s or 50’s to save, it would be much more painful.
Travis needed a tangible example.
Assume he really buckled down and saved $10,000 per year for the next five years, earning 10% per year. In five years, he would have more than $61,000. Travis shrugged his shoulders.
Then I said, without adding another dime, if you let that grow for the next 40 years, you will amass more than $2.7 million.
Conversely, assume you play, party and light money on fire until age 40. To save the same $2.7 million, Travis needs to invest more than $28,000 annually over the next 25 years. And if waiting until age 50, he would need to save $87,000 per year.
Travis understands math well enough to see that time is on his side, but he needs to act.
He was intrigued and asked for other nuggets of wealth-building wisdom.
I suggested that Travis read Morgan Housel’s book, “The Psychology of Money.” A few of my favorite quotes from the book are:
“Use money to gain control over your time, because not having control of your time is a powerful and universal drag on happiness.”
“Savings can be created by spending less. You can spend less if you desire less. And you will desire less if you care less about what others think of you.”
“Compounding works best when you can give a plan years or decades to grow. This is true not only for savings but careers and relationships. Endurance is key.”
“Spending money to show people how much money you have is the fastest way to have less money.”
“Doing well with money has a little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave.”
As we finished our conversation, I asked Travis what was next on his agenda for the day.
He said he was going to sandblast his rims and repaint them himself. He said he could do that for about $200. He planned on investing the balance.
Wise move, Travis.
Dave Sather is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and the CEO of the Sather Financial Group, a fee-only and fiduciary investment management and strategic planning firm.
