Would You Rather?

A trending kids’ pastime is asking “Would you rather?” questions. “Would you rather meet Yoda or Harry Potter?” “Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?” etc. I’m pretty terrible at whimsy so these might be sub-par examples, but you get the drift.

It strikes me that personal finance is like one big game of would you rather. Would you rather buy lunch out or invest the $1750 per year? Would you rather live in a bigger house or retire earlier? Would you rather by a new car or travel more?

Of course, this is severely over-simplified. The trade-off in each case represents many would-you-rathers. Maybe it’s something more like: Would you rather live in a bigger house, or have a newer car, or retire earlier, or go out to eat every day, or buy new phones or clothes or whatever you’re into, or rack up the debt….the possibilities are almost endless. And the pros and cons for each point may also carry complexity. 

But when you actually make a financial decision,  the alternatives you’re considering is often fairly finite in the moment. We’re all constantly deciding between spending, saving, and giving. Those are the three main functions of money, and it helps to think in terms of trade-offs between them.

Like the Would You Rather game, there’s often not one right way to do things. While over-spending, consumer debt, and becoming greedy are destructive, many choices boil to preference and priorities. Would you rather buy the bigger home or retire earlier? That’s largely a matter of preference and/or values. And for us, seeking God’s wisdom in big decisions is important.

One problem with Would You Rather when it comes to personal finance is when we can’t see the third option. We easily become blind to one of the three functions of money and fail to consider a whole category. It’s not would you rather A or B, but would you rather A, B, or C?

It’s a constant balancing act, choosing how much of our money to give, save and spend. And there’s no universal formula for it. But if your financial plan is all but missing one of these, or is heavily weighted toward one, you might not be seeing all the options.

It would be exhausting (and impossible) to consider all the possibilities, the would-you-rathers, with each financial choice we make. At the same time, we’ll miss out if we don’t see the options. Because when you don’t see the alternative, you don’t feel like you’re making a choice at all. You think you’re doing what you have to do. Sometimes there’s only one good choice—like paying the electric bill. And sadly there are times when people run out of good options. But for all those gray areas that we encounter daily, let’s try to open our eyes to the trade-offs, the balancing act between spending, saving, and giving.

By balance, I don’t mean to suggest we’re going to get it “right.” But hopefully by thoughtful consideration, we can come to an arrangement that we’re happy with. Weighing these three areas is a helpful way to talk about money if you’re married, and a great lesson in trade-offs for kids.

Just make sure to start it out with “Would you rather…”

What Would You Rather are you considering?