what will their legacy be?
by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting
accountants get unusual views of human frailty and baseness of character. most of our interactions are stimulating and propel us to growth, but some expose others’ weaknesses and extremely poor personal judgment.
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three situations stand out. in one, the husband provided his wife with a stingy allowance to run the household and for her personal spending.
in a second example, the husband scrutinized every credit card charge, while castigating his wife’s spending, no matter how little or how essential. in the third instance, the parsimony applied also to the husband, causing the family to live on subsistent spending.
well, as the money-hoarding husbands died, the wives found out the truth. they were rich! not just wealthy, but rich! and then they started to hate the memory of the cheapskates who caused them to suffer mostly uncomfortable, unhappy days fraught with denial, continuous challenge and bickering. not fun, and not good memories.
psychologists can have a field day considering the reasons, and i really do not care why. what i can offer as a lesson is that legacies are established by how people live their lives, not by how much they leave behind. as andy dufresne said, “get busy living, or get busy dying.”
a benefit of our profession is that many times we see the whole picture. the beginning, middle and end. we are confidential advisors who keep what we see to ourselves. but with certain clients we run out of energy trying to get them to reconsider the misguided ways they lead their lives.
3 responses to “advising cheapskates”
arthur fishman
i do not mind fiscal conservative clients that adhere to the building blocks of wealth. they realize that there are times when some assets do not appreciate and there is worth in having a “sunny day fund”. many of my “cheap” clients look only at the tax reduction and not the long term effects.
over the years, i have retained those who want a slow and steady increase in their wealth and look at the tax consequence as a investment in their future. putting solar panels on your roof is expensive. in ny, taking into consideration the tax credits, the roi is almost 12%. good for the environment and good investing.
russell sherman
as i always say “there is no such thing as a bad client, but rather bad clients that we do not charge enough”.
sean butler
unfortunately, there are clients that simply aren’t worth it. that will never appreciate what we do or see the value in what we do. remind me of the old saying,”this juice ain’t worth the squeeze.”