The 1 Person On Earth Who Doesn’t Fantasize About Having Money?

by Mike Dang and Logan Sachon

Logan: Mike, were you surprised that so many people answered the $20,000 question earlier this week (the $20,000 question: what would you do with $20,000) by saying they would pay off their debt?

Mike: Not really. I think debt is something we’re always talking about now and we’ve become more debt-averse since the financial crisis. Credit card debt as a whole has been taking a plunge since 2008. Would you use that windfall money to pay off the rest of your cards?

Logan: Yeah. I think that’s why I picked that amount actually. Enough to pay off my cards and then have a few thousand left, which I’d split between an emergency fund which I’d lock up and throw away the key and then, I don’t know, some plane tickets. Would you put yours towards student loans? It’s seems like a bummer to put it toward debt if it wouldn’t make a dent!

Mike:Yeah, I mean, my student loans don’t actually bother me that much. One of the biggest loans I have has an interest rate of 2 percent right now, so I don’t really feel like I’m getting beaten up so much by interest. I’d probably pay off one of my student loans — the one that has about $5,000 left on it — and then give $10,000 of it to my parents, and then put the other $5,000 I have left in savings. Not my retirement account, but like, general savings. A vacation fund. But I don’t think this answer would surprise you.

Logan: I like it though, there’s a good mix of responsibility … well it’s all responsible actually isn’t it, but I’m glad you’d put some of it towards a vacation. This fantastical money that doesn’t exist. I mean I guess the answer to the question of if I had that money, what would I do with it is pay of the debt, yes. But when I fantasize about having money, I don’t fantasize about not having debt. I mostly fantasize about being able to rent a huge house on the coast or in the forest and fly all my friends there and stock it with good food. That’s my fantasy right now.

Mike: I don’t fantasize about having money? Or ever think about windfalls. I’m not sure why this is, because there is absolutely nothing wrong about fantasizing and daydreaming about this kind of thing, but I think one of the reasons for this is because my mother was the kind of person who would always pull you back down to Earth when you wanted something out of your reach. “Stop dreaming,” she’d say. Not like, “Stop dreaming of getting into a good college.” But like, “Oh you’re seven years old and you want a Nintendo? Stop dreaming.” I eventually got a Nintendo after saving my birthday and Christmas money (or I should say, my brothers and I got a Nintendo after pooling our money). So, she was right. We weren’t going to get something we wanted just because we dreamed about it. We had to actually figure out a real way to do it.

Logan: That’s a good lesson, I think. I like to think about grandiose trips and things, but when it comes to the question of, well how are you going to do it — that’s not as fun. Ha, obviously. The money will just show up! Which it did, when I used credit cards. A card for a few thousand dollars would literally come in the mail. Ha.

Mike Free money! Except it’s not free money at all! It’s easy to think of it that way when you’re 18 and have access to credit though, so I get that. For me, the $20,000 windfall exercise is sort of like the “winning the lottery” exercise, but maybe a little bit more realistic. One of the things I liked about the post were the comments from people who said, “Oh, yes, this happened to me. This totally happened to me.” I don’t know anyone who has won the lottery, but there are people who receive windfalls. I’d much rather not think about it though. I’m guessing a windfall would be amazing when it comes out of the blue.

Logan: Oh as opposed to what I do, is basically live my life with the expectation that at some point it will all work out in the form of some kind of windfall, more likely in the form of a job or like, a book I write? Ha what book. Even though I know that’s Not How It Works, that’s still an idea in my back pocket. Oh, I’ll write a something that will sell for a zillion dollars. Sure. Why not. That’s more unrealistic than the lottery I think, probably.

Mike: Well, the thing about writing a book is that you can write it without actually having a book deal! So maybe you can start writing your windfall book this weekend. Windfall: The Logan Sachon Story.

Logan: Oh god that’s a terrible name. But I’ve said that before. Which means it’s the best one. (LINK TO THAT POST ABOUT HOW WE GOT OUR NAME)

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