Unusual Ways To Make Money

Interesting Money Questions

Unusual Ways Newsletter
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It is time for "money questions." I realize that many subscribers tolerate the issues on deeper thoughts in order to get a look at the interesting and unusual ways to make a buck. Some of you, though, actually appreciate the occasional philosophical perspective on money matters. If you are in the latter group, this week's issue is for you.

By the way, I will probably have more questions than answers. Some of these things are meant to be thought about again and again, starting with our first question, and the related follow-up questions: What is value? Is it objective, or merely perception?

I watched a television program once in which the host went to a monastery in Nepal. At tea-time, the monk asked him if he wanted the two-dollar cup of tea or the hundred-dollar cup of tea. The host asked what the difference was, an the monk replied with a straight face: "The hundred dollar cup costs more."

Now, you might think there is some deep spiritual lesson there, or you may think it is just silly, but I can't help but relate that to an advertisement I once saw for a thousand-dollar pen. Granted, it was probably better than my 20-cent pen, but how different could it really be? Can gold plating make it write better? They both do the same job. Can the value of thousand-dollar pen be anything other than as a status symbol? Isn't it the same as saying "Look at me - I bought the hundred-dollar cup of tea?"

Value is an slippery concept. If enough people agree that a loaf of bread is worth three dollars, then that is what it is worth in a sense. But what about when during the tulip-bulb mania of a few hundred years ago (or the internet stock mania more recently), people were paying more than $100 for one tulip bulb? Was that their real "value?"

People paid that, of course, not because they had a personal use for the bulb which they valued that highly, but because they assumed they could sell it for more. In that sense, we can separate out "price," which is often "speculative value" from the concept of "intrinsic value," which might be seen as "use value," or the price at which things would sell if buyers were only interested in the value gained from using the item. That too, is another slippery concept.

Other Money Questions

The Deathbed Questions

What if you knew you were going to die in 8 to 11 years, but be healthy until then. What would you do? What if you were dying today? What would you regret not having done in your life? These are general questions, but they relate to money because money is a part of everything we do in life. Want to help others out? Money helps. Want better health? Money helps buy healthier foods. Want to travel the world? You get the idea.

Asking these kinds of questions reminds us of what is really important to us. Money is not important except as a means to these values. But in that respect it IS very important. After all, if you manage it well enough enough, making it, saving and investing it in ways that don't contradict your values, you can "buy back" all the time you might have spent at a job (as much as 35% of many people's waking hours), to use for more meaningful pursuits.

Business Relationship Questions

Is the customer always right? What should the relationship between a customer and a business be? It is easy to see that the idea of customers always being right is too extreme. On the other hand, business is about serving their needs. But is it an obligation?

As consumers, we get upset when businesses are not run as we think they "should be." They should be faster, cheaper, more aware of our wishes. On the other hand, we don't necessarily try to be everything to customers for our labor (employers), especially if they don't pay us that well. Perhaps a better perspective is to accept that a business owes us nothing - except what is promised when we agree to pay for their product or service. Beyond that, we are free to spend our money elsewhere, and they are free to look for different customers. Is there really any other obligation that a business owes society or you or I?

Money Motivation Questions

Do people do it for the money? It sure doesn't seem likely. Sam Walton, who used to be one of the richest men in America, was still driving his 1979 pickup truck at the time of his death. He hardly needed more money. Many wealthy business people say money is just a way to keep score.

Again, this is a question about values. It reminds us that we make money for a reason, that it is of lesser value than everything we hope to do with it. So if making it prevents the pursuit of our true values, or violates our moral beliefs, we are going about it all wrong. Why do you make money? Ask yourself this one repeatedly throughout your life, and see if you are accomplishing what you claim to be aiming for.

Note: This is part of the "Unusual Ways" Newsletter.
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Unusual Ways To Make Money | Interesting Money Questions