My friend’s a successful hedge fund manager in NYC.
But expensive toys aren’t his thing.
However, he recently splurged on a Porsche Taycan. And immediately regretted it.
Why?
He feels like a D-bag at the soccer pick-ups.
The maintenance is stressful.
He can’t shake the immigrant guilt of having nice stuff.
“I should’ve just bought a Chevy Tahoe,” he lamented.
Accepting your financial trade-offs
This story hits home because when I left the Wall Street grind, I also left the possibility of buying expensive shit.
And with the exception of renting a home by the beach and some $68 Velva Sheen T-Shirts – that’s totally OK with me.
But for some reason, every time I see a Taycan I get giddy.
I know absolutely nothing about cars.
I can’t tell you the difference between a 911 or a Carrera.
Heck, I don’t even know if I pronounce “Taycan” correctly.
But it looks sweet. Well designed. Especially in the Frozen Metallic Blue.
Yet the stark reality of the life of a creative entrepreneur means that a car like that is probably out of the cards.
Are you in love (with falling in love)?
Many times the idea of something is more appealing than owning the thing itself.
The idea of a second home overshadows the mental load of maintaining it.
The idea of being famous overshadows the complete loss of privacy.
We love the idea of falling in love, but not the part when the bloom is off the rose (and resentment kicks in).
What if it’s all a made-up story?
My friend’s story showed that for many people, owning a Taycan is way more psychological than financial.
After all, having a phat bank account alone won’t cure the scarcity mindset that you inherited from your immigrant parents.
But what if you’re just bullshitting yourself?
On the inaugural episode of the Rad Friends Podcast my friend called me out on this exact story.
First, he pointed out that the Taycan is $86,000. Not cheap, but definitely something I could afford.
Then, he challenged me to experiment. Rent one out, just to see if I like it.
You can see in the exchange how uncomfortable I got.
First, I hadn’t even looked up the price.
Then, came the excuses. We don’t have an EV charger in our home. The vertical clearance on our driveway might scrape the bottom of the car.
And I – most certainly – would care about looking like a d-bag driving a Porsche to get a gallon of milk.
Paul made me see quite clearly, that the distant idea of owning a Porsche was more enticing than owning the Porsche itself.
I was in love – with falling in love.
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