Money On Auto Pilot
On examining our relationship to money, Bennett Stirtz turning down millions, and figuring out how money serves me
Tuesday, May 5th. I am lying in bed trying to fall asleep while my brain compartmentalizes the day. It’s a talent of mine. I’ve been thinking more about money, trying to decipher how I want it to serve me while understanding what I want to chase. I am indifferent to owning a home at this moment, instead investing in the stock market or pouring money into my health. I was 25, living with five friends to save money on rent. I chose instead to spend money on things like shoes, travel, and investments, with people telling me they remembered the days when they wasted money on rent. Despite working in finance, my relationship to money is still complicated. I spend over $300 a month on gym memberships, but get frustrated when I pay $5 for parking. It’s weird. Matter of fact, everyone’s relationship to money is weird, but I want to talk about it.
It is a constant iteration to find what works. I don’t have the perfect budget tracker, the optimized expense allocation, or even the flawless investment portfolio. Of course, money is different for everyone. Some see it as a scoreboard to measure their worth against others. Others as security to insulate them from any financial worry. Some even see it as a byproduct. Focus on the work, and the money will come. None of these are wrong, but even knowing how money serves you is a win in itself. Let me explain.
Bennett Stirtz is someone who saw money as a byproduct. After high school, he chose to continue chasing his hoop dreams at Northwest Missouri State, a college in Maryville, Missouri, population 10,633. However, despite their small size, he was joining a basketball rich program led by Ben McCollum. They would experience great success while Stirtz was there, losing eight games over two seasons. Ben McCollum became a hot commodity in the coaching world. He accepted a job at Drake University, where Stirtz followed him.
While at Drake, Stirtz would win conference player of the year and steal the nation’s heart, leading a March Cinderella who bowed out in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Texas Tech. Stirtz became a household name, beginning to appear on NBA teams’ radars, but still had one season left of collegiate eligibility. However, McCollum decided to parlay his success at Drake into landing the coaching gig at the University of Iowa, leaving Stirtz with a decision. Stirtz could follow him to Iowa, continuing what had been working, or land life changing Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) money by transferring to a larger school.
Ultimately, “his dad says [Bennett] left “more (money) than I will retire with”. He walked away from life changing money, deciding to follow McCollum to Iowa. How could someone do that?
He remained in McCollum’s system, which he knew best. Iowa isn’t flush in cash, but it wouldn’t matter. As Stirtz’s dad would share,
“Money doesn’t buy you happiness. But being in this system around a bunch of good dudes, great staff, winning, that gives you happiness more than dollars and cents.”
It goes beyond money. It incorporates the unquantifiable. Staying in a system with a coach who has molded your game. Being around teammates who elevate your play on the floor. Stirtz’s measure of value included things beyond money. He exchanged it for an environment, coach, and program that would help push him forward. He bet on what happened in the past to continue to work in the future while not being enamored by the shiny objects. But just because he chose not to chase the money doesn’t mean it won’t come to find him. After leading Iowa to the Elite Eight while knocking off the reigning champs, Florida, he is projected to be the 21st pick in ESPN’s latest mock draft. He will land a contract that will fetch him close to $15 million for four years.
However, this isn’t a piece about delayed gratification. Plenty of those exist with people much better at relaying that message. Rather, his situation worked because he understood what he wanted. Most of us never stop to examine our relationship with money. It’s uncomfortable. It’s indecisive, but as much as it sucks to admit, our relationship with money determines much of what we do. What major we might choose in college. The places we decide to live post grad. The schools we send our kids to. How often we travel. It’s something that I have been pondering myself. What am I chasing? How do I want money in my life to serve me?
It’s prevalent in my career as I try to determine the path forward. It is easy to optimize for money, but that is the default. If I never stop to examine my relationship to money, I spend my life drifting, having never bit into anything, because I opt into what society tells me to do. Bennett Stirtz looked crazy to society because everyone would assume he should chase the biggest paycheck. But he’s an example of someone who knows how it serves him. Now, it forces me to consider and decide what it’s for. Is it for Status? Maybe leading a comfortable lifestyle? Even just to keep me healthy? Regardless, I think we all have to ask ourselves, how does money serve me?
Appreciate you being here.
-Scantron
Money = free time for me. I exchange my free time (showing up at work day after day) for money. I invest that money and hopefully it grows and gives me the ability to decide what I actually want to do with my time. Which I call "free time".