{"id":236922,"date":"2019-03-06T13:32:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T21:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/?p=236922"},"modified":"2023-12-05T14:19:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T21:19:07","slug":"vicki-robin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/vicki-robin\/","title":{"rendered":"What is money for? An evening with Vicki Robin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Your<\/a>When I was a boy, my heroes were athletes and astronauts. I dreamed of playing pro football one day. Or, better yet, walking on the moon.<\/p>\n

As an adult, my heroes are more mundane. They’re the people who make personal finance accessible to average people. Long-time readers know that billionaire investor Warren Buffett is one of my heroes<\/a>. So too is Dave Ramsey, who has helped countless people — including me — get out of debt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But perhaps my biggest hero is an unassuming 73-year-old woman in cat-eye glasses who lives on Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound.<\/p>\n

In 1992, Vicki Robin<\/a> (and her partner, Joe Dominguez) published Your Money or Your Life<\/a><\/em>, a book designed to help readers transform their relationship with money. In 2004, the book transformed my<\/em> relationship with money. It rocked my world. It inspired me to seek financial independence<\/a>, which the book defines as “no longer having to work for money”.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward fifteen years.<\/p>\n

Today, in 2019, I’m awe-struck to actually be exchanging email<\/em> with Vicki Robin, discussing the past, present, and future of financial independence. And this week, when she came to Portland, I not only got to hear her speak in person, but also got to treat her to dinner.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Your Money or Your Life<\/span><\/h2>\n

Last night, Douglas Tsoi, founder of the Portland Underground Graduate School<\/a> and the School of Financial Freedom<\/a>, hosted a talk from Vicki Robin. A few dozen money nerds — including some GRS readers (Hi, Scott! Hi, Brandon!) — gathered to hear Robin’s thoughts about financial independence.<\/p>\n

For the sake of clarity, I’ve taken some liberties in what follows. I haven’t changed any of Robin’s ideas, but I’ve shifted some topics and quotes in order to create a smoother, more coherent flow for the blog. I’ve treated Robin’s Q&A responses, for instance, as if they’re part of the main talk. A real journalist would be mortified. I am not a real journalist.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some folks in the audience were unfamiliar with Your Money or Your Life<\/em>, so Robin started by briefly recapping the book’s message.<\/p>\n

The goal of Your Money or Your Life<\/em>, Robin says, is to transform your relationship with money in order to liberate your most precious resource, time<\/a>. The book’s nine-step program is meant to help readers track the flow of money and stuff in their lives, guided by both self-interest (“does it work for me?”) and<\/em> higher values (“does it work for the world?”).<\/p>\n

It’s natural that we act in our own self-interest. If we aren’t right with ourselves, it’s tough be of service to others. But Robin worries that too many people get stuck in the self-interest side of things and never move beyond that, never see how achieving financial independence gives them the freedom to leave a lasting, positive impression on the world.<\/p>\n

Like me, she wants people to “live on purpose”. <\/p>\n

Interlude<\/strong><\/em>
\nAfter Robin’s talk, a GRS reader named Brandon introduced himself to me. “Thanks for the work you do,” he said. “Especially what you share about mission and purpose.”<\/p>\n

“Has that been useful for you?” I asked. “I<\/em> feel it’s important, but sometimes I feel like I’m writing into a vacuum. I don’t know if it actually helps anybody.”<\/p>\n

“Yes, absolutely,” Brandon said. “My wife and I have both done your personal mission statement exercise<\/a>. It’s helped to give our lives direction. It’s very useful.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>A Story of Money<\/span><\/h2>\n

“In the western world, we live in a story of money,” Robin says. “On a personal level, this usually means that more is better. Whatever you have, a little bit more is better.” Our society is built around this narrative, which is pushed on us from all sides. (Even minimalism turns out to be about having more: “I have more less.”)<\/p>\n

We’re all living this story together.<\/p>\n

While the definition of financial independence in Your Money or Your Life<\/em> is “no longer having to work for money”, Robin stresses that being FI isn’t about not<\/em> working. Financial independence doesn’t mean leaving your job. It doesn’t mean seeking a life of idleness. Financial independence is about being independent from consumer culture, from the default ideology of the western world.<\/p>\n

“There’s an ongoing campaign to convince people that they need more than they have. We’ve been persuaded we need more stuff. We’re constantly bombarded by messages of more.”<\/p>\n

Robin isn’t immune to these messages. She recently considered buying a laptop case for when she travels.<\/p>\n

“A useful question for me when I’m in the presence of something I must<\/em> have is: Who wins if I buy this? Do I win? Or does somebody else win? Maybe I win a teeny bit by getting a computer case, but the company that sells it is the real winner.”<\/p>\n

She smiled. “Besides, I’d probably just misplace the new case in my office. I’d be better off wrapping my computer in a towel!”<\/p>\n

<\/span>A New Story<\/span><\/h2>\n

Your Money or Your Life<\/em> is meant to help readers see the world through different eyes. It’s meant to help people escape Plato’s Cave<\/a>, to free themselves from the Matrix<\/a>. When you reject the standard narrative, you’re able to define what’s valuable to you<\/em>, what is enough for you<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“Moderating your consumption is resisting the dominant narrative,” Robin says. “It’s a sort of independence, a sort of freedom. It’s opting out of the idea that growth is good.”<\/p>\n

When Robin and Dominguez wrote Your Money or Your Life<\/em>, their aim was to help readers “liberate their life energy” so that they could use that energy to pursue what brings them (and the world around them) value.<\/p>\n

“If everyone could do what they’re called to do, the world would be a better place,” Robin says.<\/p>\n

Robin thinks it’s time for society to create a new<\/em> shared narrative. She believes it’s time to set aside the story of money, to adopt a story that works toward the common good, not just the individual good.<\/p>\n

How do we do this? She’s been thinking about this for years (and it’s the subject of her next book). Her advice reminds me of Action Girl’s guide to living<\/a>, which I shared in 2006 when Get Rich Slowly was a baby blog.<\/p>\n

In short:<\/p>\n