What Happened At The Car Wash

She raced up in her soap-suds covered car to the car wash attendant screaming, “Look at my car!  It didn’t even spray me off as I went through.”  And the reason the car wash hadn’t “sprayed her off” was that she didn’t keep pace.

You see, instead of putting her car in neutral to go through the car wash, she left her car in drive. She actually drove through the car wash and out paced it!  Of course, the automated car wash couldn’t keep up, and consequently it was rinsing and blow-drying thin air long after she had sailed through the car wash tunnel and had come racing back to the line.

Funny as this whole picture was to us, who had a front row seat for the entire show, waiting in line right behind her, she obviously didn’t find any humor in it and blamed the car wash attendant!  And that is what so many people do with their money and finances. They blame other people for their own mishaps.

You see, money management is very similar to an automated car wash.  You have to keep pace or you’ll end up with something quite different than what you expected when you started out.  For example:  Most people believe that if they can just get enough money, either by winning the lottery, playing the stock market, or having their employer match their 401k contribution, they will somehow become wealthy and never have any more worries.  But that line of reasoning is counterintuitive to the universal laws of money.

Money is a currency and must flow to create wealth.  If your money is hoarded, stashed or squirreled away, it cannot flow and so no currency or wealth is created.  Instead the universal law of scarcity, which is the very law you were attempting to overcome by having such a wad of money, begins to destroy your stash and you end up with less wealth than if you allowed your money to keep pace with current values.

Accordingly your first reason to keep pace with your investments, 401k or savings is to keep the value of your money current instead of allowing inflation to destroy it through the law of scarcity.

Your second reason to keep pace is because doing so creates more money.   Reflect on the car wash woman for a moment.  When she accelerated her car through the car wash she was unable to receive all the benefits or profits the car wash had to offer.  Moving fast or making lots of changes with your money management often reduces your profits instead of increasing them.  It takes time for the time value of money to work in your best interests.  So don’t rush things.  Glean the most from each opportunity or failure because what you earn and/or learn today may keep you from losing money in the future.  And remember, today’s opportunity may not be available for you tomorrow.  Fortunately for the car wash women the attendant let her pass through the car wash again.  Such opportunities rarely occur with money and financial matters.

Thirdly, don’t get caught up in every scheme, business or investment possibility that comes along.  Your money is the representation of the hard work and service that you have provided others.  Don’t allow someone to come along and steal it from you based on some great expectation.  If they tell you they need your money to make their dreams come true or to take advantage of some great once in a lifetime opportunity and you’ll profit along with them, take that as a big red flag.  Tell them to go to the bankers and get the money they need.  If the bankers won’t lend them the money, there is a very high risk that if you lend them your money it will flow right down a sink hole and you’ll never see it again.   The biggest risk to consider in lending, investing or speculating with your money is not the rate or return you can earn but whether or not you will ever see the return of your money.

Good collateral insures that your money will keep pace and will not be lost to you forever.    Had the car wash women not been allowed to go back through the car wash again and keep pace this second time around, her car would have dried all streaked, stressed and splotchy.  And the same goes with those who lend, invest or speculate with their money.  Not keeping pace either by attempting to speed up the flow or slow it down only decreases the time value of money and that will always create streaks not steady progress, stress not security, and splotchy not sure monetary growth.  And that is NOT the way to create wealth.

Take some time today before you lie down for the night and determine:

  1. Are your savings, investments or retirement plans, keeping up with or out pacing inflation and taxation?
  2. Are you trying to do too much too fast with your investments, retirement contributions, business or savings?
  3. Do your results match your expectations?
    1. Are you producing streaks of success vs. steady gains?
    2. Are you stressed vs. secure with your investment, retirement plan or savings?
    3. Are you getting splotchy vs. sure (guaranteed) results?

And remember, if you are unsure or simply dissatisfied with the results you are getting, give us a call. We can help.  702-660-7000.

At McFie Insurance, we provide you with the knowledge to get the guaranteed, secure success you are looking for by sharing the universal laws of wealth and money management which allows you to keep pace.  The Perpetual Wealth Code™ is our trademark that is helping thousands of people keep pace and win their financial game.