“Being rich is having money; Being wealthy is having time”
‘Time is money’ was first recorded in 1748 by Benjamin Franklin. However, all of us have different opinions on this depending on which life stage we are in. If I am 65 now, I would feel time is more important because I don’t have much of it.
A person who is 30 will say money is more important because he may have all the time but not the money.
In general, humans will want more of what you have less. If you have more money, you want more time. If you have more time, you want more money.
Adam Smith, an economic researcher was the first person to explain the relationship between time and money using the labour theory of value (LTV). For example, if the time spent to build a table is two days, the value of the table is two days.
Therefore, the price to acquire the chair is two days. So, according to Adam Smith, money is also time (time = value = price).
When developing a Theory of Value, Adam Smith faced a paradox.
He asked himself a simple question: what is more valuable, water or diamonds? The obvious answer was water is more valuable to humans since one could not exist without it. If so, why are diamonds more valuable (expensive) than water?
Water is more valuable in usage than diamonds, but diamonds have more exchange value than water. Similarly, time is much more valuable in usage than diamonds. But what about the exchange value?
Exchange value depends on other people’s needs, how much one would pay, while usage value can be intrinsic. Exchange value of time refers to how much of your time you would surrender in exchange for something else.
That something else in return could be in the form of money (salary), experiencing positive emotions (with family or friends), or such as faith, principles, and values.
The older I get, I too realised “time is money, money is time” and I want both equally, I feel both are important. Now, the real challenge here is to have both together.
Let’s discuss some steps on having both:
Find your own balance
Achieving balance is the most difficult thing. I think all of us can’t give our 100 per cent attention to our children, spouse and career.
Instead we need to consciously strive for a state of equilibrium, even when that feels exceptionally hard.
Money is necessary and important, but it needs to find its rightful place among life’s priorities.
We certainly need to find better ways to balance our money, time and life. What’s important to you?
There is no right or wrong answer here, we all have different identities and priorities. Time and money are important and by understanding the priorities we can strike a right balance in our lives.
Spend time and money wisely
Spending wisely basically means getting the most for your time and money, in line with what matters to you.
Individuals who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life.
Individuals who spend money wisely put their financial goals as priority. Some days, money will matter more.
But other days, we’ll consider the money well spent for the time it buys us. Whichever situation we are in, make sure time and money create value and memories in our life.
Life control
Time and money should give us the ability to make our own decisions freely without any obstacles.
For an example, if you want to take a break from the workforce and you can’t because of financial commitments, then you don’t actually have the control on our life.
Buying a bigger car or house have a bigger consequence on our finance and sometimes it causes you to lose control on time and money. Life control is what gives us the power to act or to not act.
It allows us to determine our own future and to shape our destiny. That is what we all crave for. Somewhere along the way, we have lost touch of this life control we all love. We now struggle with our time and money.
The real value of time or money begins when we look beyond it and see ourselves as better and more valuable, than it is.
Accumulation of wealth (money) should make us a better person, enable us to evolve in life (time) and achieve purposeful life goals without getting into the rat race.
The abundance of life is not found in the things that we own, it’s in the fulfilling and satisfying life we lead, free from burdens and problems.
Remember the right mug and coffee gives you satisfaction, only by having time and money can you create best value in life. Time and money go together.
We need time to make money and we need money to save time. The wise man is the person who work to have both, time and money. Stay safe!
Gunaseelan Kannan, CFP, a Financial Adviser Representative by Bank Negara Malaysia and a Licensed Financial Planner by Securities Commission (CMSRL/B4198/2013), is currently pursuing his PhD research on financial planning and financial technology. He also lectures on accounting, finance and business fields in Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU). He is the winner of Malaysian Financial Planner of the Year 2020, from Financial Planning Association of Malaysia.He can be reached at [email protected]