April 2, 2025–There was a point in my life where I was in a position to receive a substantial financial windfall, entirely outside my control. The details don’t matter, and it was entirely legal and ethical.
It didn’t happen, but it set me to daydreaming about what I would do with a sudden influx of unexpected funds. Do you know what I came up with?
Nothing
This both surprised and pleased me.
As young adults, we all fantasized about what we would do with a million dollars. To someone with a family, one income, a high-mileage vehicle, and rent payment, even 1% of a million dollars would make a difference in easing the stress of buying groceries. But after decades of building a career and a lifestyle, most of us reach a point in life where we are content with our financial status.
Trying to conjure up a fantasy life of unimagined wealth, I found no fantasies.
House
Our home is no mansion, nor would I want it to be. We have managed to raise a family and make a comfortable home, with adequate square footage and functioning appliances. Our refrigerator keeps food cold, and our oven makes food hot. What else is needed?
Location
Where else would one want to live, if not in the heart of the Texas Hill Country? Or wherever you have found your home. You landed there for a reason.
Vehicles
We have cars that get us from Point A to Point X, Y, or Z. A bigger, faster, prettier car will not allow us to break any laws of physics or traffic to arrive more efficiently.
Wardrobe
By the age of 50, I firmly believe every man has accumulated all the clothing he’ll need to last him through the rest of his life, including his burial suit. Maybe a more comfortable pair of shoes from Tractor Supply, but otherwise, no wardrobe windfall needed.
Travel
Meh. I’ve traveled as a younger man, a time in life when you didn’t worry about where you slept, what you ate, or how you were going to get back home. Will a lump of lira help me get a better tour of Rome than I can find online?
I asked several acquaintances their thoughts on how to spend extra funds. Most agreed with my analysis, with one exception that rose to the top: services.
All agreed that if they had money to burn, they would spend it buying services they no longer wanted to perform themselves.
This list included
lawn care
home repair
house cleaning
car maintenance
massage
IT assistance
accounting and bookkeeping
meal prep
I’m sure you can think of others.
I heartily concur. As one who long performed routine maintenance on my cars–sometimes replacing spark plugs on the side of a highway in the Smokey Mountains–I finally felt rich when I could afford to drive into the dealership and enjoy coffee and Danish while some technician in coveralls did the dirty work.
So I’ve concluded that true wealth is the ability to afford to buy the services of someone with more experience and expertise in handling those aspects of your life that you are no longer interested in or capable of doing yourself.
Which brings me to my Final Answer, which I did not have when I started writing this column:
If I had money to burn, I would use it pay for a way to provide every imaginable service from here on.
I eagerly await the robot incursion.
XXX
Phil Houseal is still writing laboriously, at FullHousePR.com.