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Every time a political candidate asks if you’re better off than four years ago, I can’t help but sigh. The implication, regardless of party, is always that you’re worse off and that they are the answer to your problems.
The Democrat says things went downhill under the Republican, and the Republican says the same about the Democrat. Naturally, we’re often inclined to believe these claims from our favored party. Sure, bad things have happened over the past four years—there’s no denying that. Life is full of imperfections and twists of fate.
Yet, as a rational thinker who doesn’t let politics sway them, you know that most people are almost always better off today than they were four years ago. We can start by looking at finances, where progress is often straightforward to measure, and then consider other aspects of life.
Ready to look on the bright side? Because at the end of the day, you are the answer to your problems, nobody else. And you are strong.
You’re Richer Four Years Later
On November 1, 2020, the S&P 500 was at 3,509. Four years later, the S&P 500 is at about 5,700. Given that the majority of us are passive index investors, the majority of our public equity investments are up ~65%.
In Q4 2020, the median home price in America was $338,600. Four years later, the median home price is over $420,000. Given that the majority of us also own real estate, we are 24% richer on average. However, if we bought our homes with a mortgage, our returns on our down payments are likely up 70%–110%+.
You Can’t Help But Stay Focused Financially
It is highly unlikely that readers of Financial Samurai or any other personal finance site are poorer four years later. You’ve read posts such as How To Predict A Stock Market Bottom Like Nostradamus right after COVID hit, suggesting the bottom was near and that you should be buying. At the very least, you weren’t panic selling.
You read Real Estate Buying Strategies During COVID-19, which might have made you pounce on good deals in 2020. Then you read posts like How to Boost Rental Income Through Remodeling to increase your gains.
There’s no paywall to read any of my articles, so there is no cost to learning and taking action. Meanwhile, if you subscribed to my free weekly newsletter, you’d stay on top of the most important items.
There’s no way you’d start frivolously spending your money on wasteful things when you’re constantly being encouraged to work hard, take calculated risks, and aggressively save for the future.
Now multiply Financial Samurai by 1,000, because that’s at least how many personal finance sites, podcasts, and video channels, there are in America alone to follow.
You’re More Knowledgeable Four Years Later
Not only are you richer four years later, your knowledge capital has increased thanks to all the reading, listening, watching, and learning you’ve done. In addition to reading Financial Samurai and other sites multiple times a week—think about all the books you’ve read after 1,460 days!
As an author of two books, with another two coming, I know that each traditionally published book takes at least two years to write and edit. Extreme thought and care go into book publishing. The author is usually an expert in their field, who does even more research to make their book as valuable as possible.
Let’s say you realistically read one book a quarter. That’s 16 books of knowledge you’ve read in four years on various subjects. If you read one book every two months, then that’s 24 books you’ve read in four years. I sure hope you’ve read Buy This Not That already. I’m confident it will provide you at least 100X more value than its cost.
Once you have the knowledge to do something, your life gets better because you become more confident. When you have confidence, you gain the courage to take action to fix suboptimal situations.
You’re Wiser Four Years Later
Wisdom is the ability to make sound decisions and navigate life thoughtfully, drawing on experience, empathy, and insight.
Wisdom comes through experience, both good and bad. During these past four years, you’ve learned how to become a better communicator, better parent, better friend, better son or daughter, and better person. All the conflicts you’ve had over the past four years are learning experiences to help you better deal with future conflicts.
No longer do you waste your time getting into arguments online because you learned about the mob culture on Twitter. Instead of getting into a power struggle with your children by shouting directives, you learn to ask them questions about their behavior to create a calm and empathetic dialogue. Rather than put up with toxic people who lack empathy, you move on because you understand that trying to change people only leads to frustration.
As the great author Maya Angelou once wrote, “When people show you who they are, believe them.”
You’re More Skilled Four Years Later
Malcolm Gladwell believes it takes 10,000 hours, or 10 years practicing 20 hours per week, to become an expert. I buy it. After four years, you’re 40% of the way there. Keep on going.
That two-handed backhand you had no idea how to hit when you first started is coming together with more precision. The fear you had recording podcasts no longer exists after your 20th episode. The loss for words rarely happens after practicing a new language every day. Muscle memory makes playing your favorite songs on the guitar automatic.
The more skills you develop, the easier life gets. With each hour of practice, you move closer to autonomy without fear of being ruined by exogenous factors out of your control.
You’re More Senior At Work Four Years Later
If the average person works 2,000 hours a year, that’s 8,000 hours of work after four years. Unless you’re an extremely unpleasant person who doesn’t work well with others, chances are high that you’ve gotten a raise and a promotion during this time period.
Although the price of everything from food to college tuition is much higher four years later, your income has likely kept up or outperformed. Meanwhile, your investments have all likely inflated at a faster rate than inflation, giving you real gains.
Seniority certainly brings about more responsibilities and challenges. However, as someone who works partly for status, having an increased amount should make you better off. And if you don’t care about status, then you would have logically found a job that gave you more meaning.
You’ve Helped More People Four Years Later
Add up all the time you spent volunteering and the money you’ve given to charity. If you’ve got a generous soul, you might be surprised by how much those figures add up. And if you aren’t impressed with the totals, you can always take the initiative to volunteer and give more starting today.
Don’t take how much you’ve helped others for granted. Not only is giving great for society, it’s also great for your soul. It’s impossible not to feel good helping others. As a bonus, thanks to karma, all your giving comes back in spades.
Related: The Stinginess Of Financial Independence
Your Children Are Stronger Four Years Later
If you have adolescent children, four years is a big percentage of their lives. During this time, you will have watched them grow and positively surprise you in ways you didn’t think possible. Four years ago, perhaps they didn’t know how to swim, bike, read, throw a ball and do simple math. Now they do. Amazing!
The rebuffs you experienced when coming home from a long day’s work might now turn into screams of joy and endless hugs. The multiple wake-ups at night now only happen once in a while, so you are more rested. No longer are you as worried about your kid not being able to make friends because they found a fellow misfit just like them.
Stronger kids help ease the perpetual anxiety you might feel as a parent. One day, you’ll feel both happiness and sadness knowing they can fend for themselves in this beautiful yet often cruel world.
The One Negative Four Years Later
I hope by now you believe me that you’re likely much better off four years later. It’s been an exciting journey full of challenges and growth. However, there’s one negative about today: we have four fewer years left to live.
We only regret the past four years if we didn’t take any action to improve suboptimal situations. Given none of us are irrational, none of us decided to do nothing and complain that life isn’t fair.
The question is: What will we do these next four years to make ourselves better off in the future?
These are some of my goals:
- Keep writing on Financial Samurai to help people achieve financial freedom sooner.
- Stay healthy enough to be in my children’s lives at least until they turn 25, 18 and 21 years from now.
- Replenish our passive income to cover 110% of our desired living expenses by December 31, 2027.
- Volunteer monthly at my children’s school to develop better relationships with other parents and school employees.
- Publish two more books (2025 and 2028) that will make a positive impact to readers.
- Improve my Mandarin by practicing for 30 minutes every day.
- Increase my investments in artificial intelligence through a diversified venture capital fund.
- Hold onto my rental property portfolio and dollar-cost average into real estate funds to fully participate in the Fed’s multi-year rate cut cycle.
Some of our investments will falter, and some of our initiatives may fail. Yet as long as we’re still breathing, we can keep growing toward a better tomorrow.
When a new set of politicians asks us four years from now if we’re better off, I’m confident most of us will say yes.
Readers, are you better off today than four years ago? Please share your reasons why!
Suggestions For A Better Tomorrow
For those with over $250,000 in investable assets, get a free financial consultation with an Empower professional. If you complete two video calls by November 30, 2024, you’ll also receive a $100 Visa gift card by email in November. There’s no obligation to use their services, but a second opinion could be the insight that makes all the difference.
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To achieve financial freedom sooner, join 60,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter. Everything I write is based off firsthand experience given money is too important to be left up to pontification.