The Butler Project

Mark’s final question to Jim, multimillionaire pest control business owner was this: If you could only give me one piece of financial advice, what would that be?

Jim: Here it is: I’m worth many millions of dollars; I drive a 2004 four cylinder, white Toyota pickup that’s been used as a pest control truck a full summer in Dallas, Texas, and a full summer in Atlanta, Georgia. That’s my car. That’s it. So if you take that and extrapolate that to the rest of my life, then that’s my bit of financial advice: that it’s not just about making money; it’s about being smart with your money.

Stay away from consumption, especially depreciable [consumption]. If you start thinking about your life and your behaviors of how you spend and what you do with your wealth, making more money is only one part of the equation… spending less money–it totally changes the model.

If you’re going and buying a brand new Mustang, then there’s 20-30 thousand dollars that you could have turned around and put it into an investment vehicle that’s working for you. Whether that’s real estate, whether that’s business, or whether it’s just a bank account. There’s a difference between pissing your money away and putting it to work for you. And understanding the fundamental difference between the two and living it is my advice.

If you’ve read my past posts about Jim, his truck of choice probably is not very surprising to you, but I want to take a minute to compare Jim’s choice with my friend who is a doctor. He’s been in practice about two years now, and I think he’s been really smart about building his business.

Coming straight out of college, he didn’t have a lot of money to start up a medical practice. So, when he moved to town, he bought a modest home and leased an office in an older medical building. The rent was cheap, but the space was really outdated and needed a lot of cosmetic work.

My friend and his wife did that work themselves; with some paint, a little tile, a whole lot of elbow grease, and their fabulous taste, they transformed that old, dingy office into a beautiful place where he works happily and his patients feel comfortable.

**Before I get any farther in this story, let me acknowledge I’m relying solely on my occasionally faulty memory for a lot of these details, and I’ve made some assumptions about the situation.**

With his office ready, my friend began an advertising blitz on the area. He was featured in the newspaper as a new doctor in town; his ads appeared all the time in the newspaper and on the radio in times and places that would best reach his target patient population. Very soon, he secured space in medical offices in two nearby towns allowing him to see patients in each of those towns once a week and effectively doubling his pool of potential patients. He’s busy all the time now, making the most of his working hours.

All of this is great; like I said, I think my friend has done a great job building up his business. Not only that, he’s a nice guy with a big heart. He’s been my son’s doctor and I would recommend him to anyone. I believe he can afford his lifestyle; I don’t think he’s living beyond his means. But I bring up his story to contrast it with Jim, who told us his one piece of financial advice would be to limit consumption, and used his used 2004 Toyota as an example. My friend, the doctor, moved here two years ago driving an old sedan. Very soon after that, he bought his mother’s late model Audi. It was a really nice car, in impeccable condition. I thought it was a great move–he got a nice car for a good deal which I’m sure he can afford comfortably.

About eight months ago, my friend traded in the Audi for a brand new BMW and bought his wife (who had been driving a late model Honda Pilot) a brand new SUV much bigger than her Pilot. The cars are both very nice, and my friend is obviously very pleased with his purchases, but I wonder if he is really designing the life he wants to live. I wonder if his nice, new cars are really moving him toward his goals, or if he took a minute to think about it, if he couldn’t have kept his older cars, invested the money and been that much closer to his dreams.

Don’t think I’m against new cars; I bought one, and I loved driving it off the lot. Was it the best financial decision for me? Probably not. But it is what it is, and I’ll probably make a different choice next time. I’m not against BMWs either; if a fine German sports car is essential to your ideal life, find a way to pay for it and enjoy the sheer driving pleasure.

My point is, Jim thinks about what is important to him, and finds the most efficient way to get there. Driving a fast new car is obviously not one of his immediate concerns. He takes the money he saves on cars and invests it to achieve his life goals. I suspect my doctor friend has a lot of the same life goals as Jim, centered on family and enjoying life. I wonder though, if my friend will reach those goals with the efficiency Jim has, or if he will unknowingly exchange the really important stuff for the thrill of immediate gratification.