Make dollars make sense

There is a truism to life that cannot be avoided no matter how diligently we ignore it: To gain something of value, you must part with something of value.

That might manifest itself as sweat equity in exchange for shares in a company stock, or the trade of a motorcycle for a boat, or dollars for flight time. It makes no difference really. Value must be given to receive something we perceive as having similar value.

This comes to mind as I come to terms with yet another series of experiences with people who either do not believe basic economics apply to them, or have chosen to disregard reality and math in a vain attempt to wish themselves into prosperity.

It’s a disappointing situation, frankly.

The first came as a flashback to my own early attempts at a career in aviation. Money was tight, as it is with most of us. I’d been whittling away at earning the flight experience necessary to earn my private pilot certificate, but three years into the process I’d only managed to spend a hellacious amount of money without really having any real understanding of how I’d reach my goal.

I was as rudderless as the next person back then — at least when it came to finance. Money and I had a very transitory relationship. I earned it. I spent it. I was broke.

This perpetual cycle of feast to famine and back again can be tiring and profoundly frustrating.

While talking to a young man who is in very much the same position I was in all those years ago, I asked the pertinent question: “Do you have a good handle on your finances? Do you know where your paycheck goes every pay cycle?”

The answer was not far from what I would have said four decades ago: “No, I really don’t.”

This opened the door to me channeling my inner Dave Ramsey. Love him or hate him, it is undeniably true that Dave and his collection of variously skilled Ramsey personalities have provided the basic framework for untold thousands of men and women to pull their lives together and move on to a better future. Not just their finances, their lives. Because one drives the other. Finance and lifestyle are inextricably linked. They always were. They always will be.

There is a cost to everything. That cost may be expressed in money, or inconvenience, or pain, or time. Make no mistake, however. There is always a cost. Knowing how to plot a course through life that minimizes the cost, while maximizing the gain, is essential if we wish to ultimately reach our most ambitious goals.

Someone close to me has struggled with handling their finances for many years. They subscribe to the “I’m trying” method of planning and saving. Which is, in effect, the “I wish I had a million dollars” approach. Trying and doing are entirely different things. Knowing that makes all the difference.

Upon the death of yet another automobile that was absolutely necessary to get to work, I asked this individual how much they had been able to save toward a new car. After more than five years of claiming they were trying to save, I was expecting to hear a sizeable number. The answer stunned me: “Almost $1,000.”

That equates to less than $5 a week. For an individual who makes nearly six figures, with no mortgage, no car payment, and no household bills to pay, their inability to put away a savings account of five figures or better tells the tale pretty clearly. They’re wishing for riches, not working toward a goal.

As Thomas Wolfe noted in “The Right Stuff,” “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.” It takes dollars to fly. Whether you’re military, or civilian, or Elon Musk headed for Mars. We all have to pay the freight.

Now, as daunting as the costs may be, those dollars aren’t locked away in a secret vault, hidden from public view, reserved for only the wealthy few. They’re flowing through our wallets and checking accounts on a regular basis. Our challenge is to get focused enough to direct a portion of those dollars to the goal we most sincerely want to achieve.

As a pilot, you know all this of course. But judging by the number of people I meet (and you meet) who have no idea how to amass the small fortune they think they need to learn to fly, buy a house, buy a car, or start a business, it’s clear there is a wide chasm between the knowledge needed to accomplish those goals and the people dreaming of accomplishing them.

Maybe it’s time the aviation community took some action to help correct this situation. So many think of us as an exclusive private club filled with independently wealthy individuals. They don’t seem to realize we are, by and large, not much different from our friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Where we depart from the crowd is in our willingness to plan, to commit to making that plan work, and our flexibility to adjust the plan to the ever-changing conditions we find along the way.

Plotting a course to financial health and prosperity is not much different than a cross-country flight from Point A to Point B. There is a starting point, a period of transition, and an arrival at the destination. Planning and dedication to the goal is required to make that work. And those are skills we can teach.

Be a mentor. Be a coach. Find someone who is struggling and give them the guidance they need to find a path that will lead them where they want to go. We can do that, certainly.

The aviation community has real value to those around us. Let’s prove it. Let’s make a difference in the lives of others in our city or town. Because we can.