Key Takeaways
Research shows spending money on time-saving services rather than material goods leads to greater happiness and life satisfaction.
Outsourcing chores and tasks (like housekeeping, lawn care, or bookkeeping) can reduces stress and create more time for enjoyable activities.
Reducing commuting time can have the equivalent effect of a 19% pay increase.
We spend a lot of time working with clients to help them make more money and retain their wealth. But we can also help clients use money to free up time for more enjoyable activities. Many of you have probably realized that at a certain point in life, time becomes your most valuable asset -- even more so than money and material purchases.
For instance, studies show that outsourcing chores (cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, cooking, going grocery shopping) can be one of the biggest contributors to happiness. This is due to a double whammy effect of reducing stressors in your life (negative) while at the same time allowing you more time to do things you enjoy (positive).
In a 2017 study called "Buying Time Promotes Happiness," participants were given $40 and asked to spend it either on a time-saving service or on a material purchase. Those who spent their money to save time reported higher life satisfaction compared to those who spent money on material goods like gadgets and clothing. The study also highlighted how feelings of time scarcity are linked to reduced happiness, increased anxiety and insomnia.
I bring up this research because many of you are frugal people. You’ve worked very hard your entire life and have amassed sizeable wealth. You have plenty of financial cushion to increase your lifestyle, but that goes against your values and lifelong habits. While it’s hard to get some clients to spend more on luxury goods and first-class dining and travel, we’ve had success getting clients to spend money on people and services that free up their time from chores and obligations. It’s not an easy lifestyle shift for some clients, but once we convince them to hire a landscaper, or order prepared meals once or twice a week, hire a dog walker occasionally or have a bookkeeper help them balance their checkbook every month and pay routine bills, they wonder why it took them so long to make the switch. That’s where the notion of “time affluence” comes in.
When it comes to outsourcing chores, don’t hire help for the ones you don’t mind; hire help for the ones you truly dislike. If you’re not sure, write down all the regular chores taking up your time and energy and rank them from “most unpleasant” to “least unpleasant.” Start by outsourcing the most unpleasant ones at the top of the list and you’ll be amazed how much time and mental energy that frees up for you for things you enjoy in life.
Real World Example
One couple I know is very health conscious and pretty well-off. The husband, a triathlete, insists on mowing his own lawn every Sunday – the only homeowner in his upscale neighborhood who still does it. He’s in great shape for his age. He worked his way through college mowing lawns and started a landscaping business before becoming a professional. “Why would I pay someone to mow my quarter acre lawn when it only takes me 30-40 minutes a week?” he told me. “It’s great exercise. The noise blocks out all the other distractions in life. It saves me enough money to take my wife out to dinner every week and the lawn always looks better even when I miss a few spots” he added with a chuckle.
Now that the couple has put their youngest child through college, they have a little more budget for active travel. The wife refuses to hire a travel agent. It’s not about saving a little money. She has very high standards and loves making travel plans, researching flights, and checking out hotels and Airbnb’s in exotic locations and finding the best deals – something the husband hates doing.
In her book, Happy Money, Elizabeth Dunn shares great examples of ways for readers to “buy” time in their lives:
Focus on the activities that add the most stress to your personal life first.
Getting a housekeeper.
Getting groceries delivered – i.e., Instacart or look into meal kits like Hello Fresh.
Hiring landscaping.
Reduce your commute.
Speaking of reducing your commute, if you can negotiate work from home privileges or move closer to your workplace, studies show it will significantly increase your happiness, as commuting is one of the most dreaded daily chores of modern life. Another study (The Impact of Commuting) revealed that commuting is one of the least enjoyable daily activities. Researchers found that subjects who reduced their commute by just one hour per day had the equivalent effect of a 19% pay increase on their sense of well-being. That’s the power of time affluence.
Conclusion
If you or someone close to you is looking for ways to use the wealth for a more fulfilling life, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m happy to help.
Devin Starr, CFP® is an Associate Wealth Advisor at Novi Wealth
Buy time, boost happiness by outsourcing chores like housekeeping or meal delivery. Learn how to reduce stress, gain free time, and improve life satisfaction.
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