Even the Match Is a Bet

I’m not much of a bettor. As a kid, I made small bets and lost almost every one, until I just stopped making them. I remember losing one and having to walk about a mile over it. Nothing terrible ever came from any bet I lost. I just don’t like giving something up when I have no real control over how it turns out.My dad used to say something that stuck with me: “You’re gambling every time you get in a car.” You have zero control over the other drivers on the road. Somebody in another lane can end your life, and there’s nothing you can do about it beforehand. Morbid, but he’d say it every time someone complained about gambling being reckless. He also used to tell stories about playing poker and winning his way from southern Ohio up to Chicago. He once claimed he won the down payment on a house at a card table. I have no idea how much of that’s true. Small town, one card table, and a storyteller for a father will do that. But the point holds whether the stories are exact or not: his definition of gambling had nothing to do with cards. Something on the line, and no control over the outcome....You’ve been making this bet. You may not have known it was one.Have you ever thought about your 401(k) this way ... as a bet, not a savings account? Does it change how you think about it?Comment at https://livecounterflow.substack.com/(Third in an occasional series about zombie ideas in personal finance ... ideas that were true once, or sound like math, and outlive the world that made them true.) Get full access to Live Counterflow at livecounterflow.substack.com/subscribe