Pay Your Future Self First

My life until age 27 was a giant coincidence. From the time I started working at 12 to the age of 27 it just so happened that all the money I had made from babysitting to a professional career was exactly what I needed to pay everyone else.

Inventory all the people you pay in your life. You deserve to be the highest paid. Not the mortgage, not the car dealership, not the dressmaker, not the local café. It’s you. You matter the most. The future you has her hand out and is asking for the ability to take a trip, buy a nice dress occasionally, brunch with friends, take a trip and even buy a new car—probably self-driving by then!

Apparently, it’s easy to save for our future selves when we go through the exercise of imagining what we will look like in the future.

What will you look like in 30 years? Where will you age? What will your hair look like? What will be your “style?” What will you love doing with your time? What is your dream for your future self?

Spend a few minutes pondering this. Maybe take some quiet time in the morning to daydream your future self. If you can see her more clearly, maybe you will feel tenderness for her needs, both the future ones and the present ones that will help her.

Last week you found out how much you are paying her. Is it enough? Will she be happy, content, dare I say carefree in those years? If not, maybe considering a pay increase for her.

She might need a dramatic pay increase, but just while we are at it, while you are still thinkin’ on it, maybe just increase your savings by 1%. Just one little, tiny, ever so slight increase. What you may not even notice will add up over time. Trust me.