Welcome to Money As If, a weekly newsletter where we alternately embrace, lament, ridicule, rethink, and reclaim our (forcibly) strange relationships with money.

In today’s edition:

• Risk tolerance in the age of the 3.1%-chance asteroid

• The (patently absurd) price of family fun

• Cool hat

— Jeanine

P.S. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for free future issues.

IN THESE, OUR (POSSIBLE) END TIMES

Is fear of going broke keeping me from getting rich?

I dabbled with sports betting this past football season and quickly realized that I would never win any big money. 

That's mainly because gambling is gambling (the odds always favor the house and even when you think you're winning, you're losing), but also because I wasn't actually willing to bet all that much. 

At most, I'd wager $3 — and usually on something semi-likely to happen, so even if my prediction came true, I'd win, maybe, $60.   

To be fair, I wasn't expecting a windfall. I chose to micro-bet to make football Sundays with dad more engaging. But the experience got me thinking about my financial proclivities and whether certain strengths of mine were, at times, also a weakness. 

Not frugal, just … frightened

I wouldn't call myself frugal, but I've always been extremely debt-averse, another inherited interest from dad bolstered by years spent as a personal finance reporter. 

My major money decisions have been primarily influenced by whether they'd put me in dire straits, and I've never been fond of spending on speculation. To illustrate, here are a few investments I considered but ultimately balked at:

• Pricey, but (at least seemingly) prestigious private college (went to a state school instead) 

• Getting an MFA and, later, an MBA to up my earning potential 

• Buying some Bitcoin in 2012-ish 

• Purchasing company-issued stock options 

• Owning a home for more than three years

• Electing not to rebalance an individual retirement account (IRA) that only increased 7.7% in 4.5 years (though, in my defense, the account adviser said not to!)

This strategy has worked well enough. Technically, my net worth is higher than the median for Americans my age — but it's still well, well, well below average. And, in these times of widening income inequality, decreased buying power, and asteroids with a 3.1% chance of impact, I can't help but wonder if I'm keeping myself from striking it rich.

Greed Fear is right; fear is worth it 

The short answer, per the financial planning experts I consulted: Ehh, no.

Why? Well, hindsight is 20/20, risky strategies are just that (risky), and reports of windfalls in the age of finfluencers, sh*tcoins, and meme stocks, tend to be greatly exaggerated.

People "only ever tell you about the wins, but, meanwhile, they've lost thousands of dollars every other time they went for it," says Regina McCann Hess, a certified financial planner (CFP) and author of Superwoman Wealth: How to Become Your Own Financial Hero.

Beyond that, trepidation has apparently led me to make a lot of the "right" — though decidedly generic, safe, and uninteresting — money moves like:

• Save often and early!

• Spend less!

• Avoid debt!

• Have a 401(k)!

So, while my fear of going broke might have cost me here or there, more likely, it … just kept me from going broke. It probably also kept me sane. 

"Financial security is the real core of what drives you," says Hanna Horvath, a CFP and author of one of my favorite financial newsletters, Your Brain on Money (sign up here!). "How you approach money is reasonable given what your values and emotions are."

Define ‘rich’

There's another take here, though, that gets us to the same answer with different reasoning. It requires double-clicking on what "rich" actually means in 2025. 

Per investment brokerage firm Charles Schwab, most Americans believe an average net worth of $2.5 million qualifies as wealthy. But, technically, the top 1% in the U.S. have so much more. Bankrate puts the average net worth of households in this bracket at around $35.5 million, with their annual wages just under $786,000.

Why does that matter? Well, because if you have that $35.5 million in mind when you hear the word “rich," then guess what? Pressure's off! No need to rethink your entire life; chasing that number is pretty much a fool's errand. 

"Wealth inequality is to the point where the average person is never going to be in the 1% unless they have inherited wealth," Horvath says. 

Multiple quantitative studies support that sentiment. There's anecdotal evidence, too, that, these days, without existing capital, it's very, very hard to do the things that can actually propel you to the upper echelons of fortune, like starting a business, executing risky investment strategies, spending 10 years in acting class, or launching a Ponzi scheme (not recommended, but you get the idea).

A balanced assessment

That's not to say that you can’t get wealthy — or wealthier, at least. It’s also not to say that the average American wouldn’t benefit from a bit more risk tolerance, particularly in this current economic climate.

In fact, thanks to tech disruption, changing work patterns, and hyperinflation, "some calculated risk might be more necessary now than before," Horvath says.

And financial advisers I chatted with all agreed that people with growing financial portfolios tend to keep too much in savings accounts, which — once a reliable way to grow wealth — now offer paltry returns that don't keep pace with rising prices and, thus, ultimately cost you money.  

"Individuals need to be taught to invest to create wealth and not simply to save to create wealth," says Robert R. Johnson, chartered financial analyst (CFA) and Professor of Finance at Heider College of Business, Creighton University. “You can't save your way to building wealth, but you can save and invest your way to wealth.” 

So, what can you do differently?

Well, it varies by your goals and financial health (sorry, obligatory caveat), but McCann Hess had a suggestion that stood out to me as one of those people banking too much on savings.

Namely, once you have an adequate emergency fund (she recommends enough to cover two years of expenses!), automate some money each month into a low-risk investment account, like short-term bonds or index funds, instead.

Beyond that, make sure your portfolio meets the moment. At the time of writing this, Horvath was considering whether she had the right balance of international and economic stocks, given that new U.S. policies could lead to particularly high domestic volatility.

"I would also maybe consider allocating some growth stocks toward value and dividend-focused investments — tends to do better during market uncertainty,” she says. "And definitely consider reducing your exposure to tech and tech stocks." 

If you do have a nagging appetite for more risk (like, say, buying crypto), determine how much money you're OK with losing. "That's the amount of money you should put into it," McCann Hess says. (Which isn’t to necessarily say you’ll lose all that money, just that, you know, you could.)

Otherwise, don’t be too hard on yourself for not overthinking things.

"It is not only still possible to get rich by using traditional strategies, but those strategies have the highest likelihood of success," Johnson says.

PRICE TAGS

Family fun times edition

Let’s all shake our fists angrily, shall we?

🏰 $773.20

The total cost of four, one-day tickets to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom for two adults and two children (ages 3 to 9) in early March.

🦒 $284.00

What that family would pay for any-day one-day passes to the San Diego Zoo. (They could save $16 — not per person, just in total — if they opt for Value Day passes, which exclude holiday and weekend visits.)

🎳 $250.53

The price of two hours of bowling (plus shoes) for said fam at New York City’s Times Square Bowlero on a Saturday afternoon. Food and drinks not included.

🍿 $122.40

The final tally for our theoretical family to see a 5:30 p.m. showing of Captain America: Brave New World in Staten Island, New York, plus a Captain America: Snack Pack (large popcorn, two large drinks, and two candies), pre-ordered through the AMC website.

 🐘 $0

The price of admission to every Smithsonian museum, except for the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. So, you know, at least there’s that.

CHEAT SHEET

FRESH GREEN

These days, most financial takes are boilerplate. These aren't.

• Remember last week when I flagged that we should all probably save more for emergencies? Well, turns out, we should all probably save more for retirement, too.

• You know what we don’t need? A budget.

• Oh, look, it’s a renter’s market … which doesn’t mean you should lease instead of buy (though, maybe you should). It just means, if you are leasing, now’s the time to negotiate with your landlord.

THIRST TRAP

And, finally, today, in things I would buy if, you know, I could just buy things …

Cool hat

When I first stumbled upon this apricot-colored, feathered, patent leather Prada hat, I wanted it. Then I saw it cost $3,500 and, well, I wanted it a little bit less, but, yes, I still want it.

Got questions, comments, receipts, tips, thirst traps, etc. you’d like to share? Send them to [email protected].