This is Optimal Finance Daily, episode 1659, personal finance and the long game,

by honeysmithofgetrichslowly.org. And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast,

Diana Mariam. This is the show where I read to you from some of the best personal finance

blogs on the planet, sometimes a little too enthusiastically. But I can't help it.

Money is an incredible resource that we can use to craft the life of our dreams.

And before we get to it, have you subscribed to our other podcasts? We cover personal

development and minimalism, health relationships, entrepreneurship and life advice on the other shows.

Just search for Optimal Living Daily wherever you get your podcasts to find them.

But for now, let's get to today's post as we optimize your life.

Personal Finance and the long game, by honeysmithwithgetrichslowly.org.

When you think about it, personal finance is about playing the long game. Sure,

it's about other things as well. It's about paying off debt. It's about spending less than you

earn. But when you think about it overall, it's about making choices that are harder in the short

term for the good of the long term. Here's what I mean. Saving for retirement. Saving for retirement,

for example, means having less money to spend today. Having less to spend today can help

avoid lifestyle inflation, which is generally regarded as a good thing. However, there are

plenty of responsible things that could be done in the short term with that money. For example,

you could pay off debt or give to a charitable cause that is meaningful to you. You could stash

that cash in an emergency fund or eat organic foods and hire a personal trainer. None of those

are necessarily bad choices. But you decide that taking responsibility for caring for yourself

in the event that you are no longer able to work full time is more important so you play the

long game. Saving in liquid vehicles. Keeping an emergency fund in a high yield online savings

...