Are you looking for a way to change your finances?

Turn your money from small nuggets of gold into large platinum diamonds. Who wouldn’t? Lots of people could do with a financial facelift.

So, “tell me what you don’t like about your finances?”

That last question is a play on the signature line from the show, “Tell me what you don’t like about yourself,” but with a twist…a financial twist of course!

Nip/Tuck is an American serial medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010.

Opening credits song: “A Perfect Lie”, The Engine Room.

Taglines: Truth is only skin deep. L.A.’s newest implants.

The TV series Nip / Tuck, originally broadcast in 2003 on FX, focuses on McNamara/Troy, a controversial plastic surgery practice, and especially its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy played by Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon respectively. Each episode was named after the incoming patient. The show sold itself as a melodrama with a facelift.

It made me think what if people could have financial facelifts instead of actual ones?

However, it would focus on inner emotional stability instead of outer beauty.

We would build the foundation to allow people to start at building good and long-lasting financial habits.

Let’s begin our consultation.

WHAT DOES IT COST TO BUY FINANCIAL FREEDOM?

In all fairness, you have to work for your freedom. It could be as much as having $500,000 in savings and investments in one place or up to $2 million in another.

For instance, it was recently reported that no two places are equal to retire in around the United States.

If you want to retire in Mississippi, then it would cost you $950,000 versus retiring in California, in which you would need $2.1 million.

Why the variance? Things cost more on The Coast.

Housing is a premium. Dilapidated shacks in San Francisco are going for 50% above asking price.

For example, this home at 479 Silver Ave. listed on 2/8 of 2018 for $649K and was sold by 3/22/2018 for $1.125M, a 73.34% over-bid.

Homes in the Bay Area are going for a median 1.61 million!

You should plan your escape from the rat race keeping in mind where you want to live. If we use the financial freedom formula of saving 25 times your income, then you can look up what it will cost to live in certain places in America, Canada or other countries and determine if you are financially prepared.

See my post How Do You Play With FIRE?

WHAT DOES IT COST TO BE BEAUTIFUL WITH A LITTLE NIP AND TUCK?

The show was definitely like nothing I had ever seen.

One of the biggest shocks were the graphic plastic surgery procedures that were shown. I had to turn my head and look away. But when it comes to your finances, you cannot afford to be that squeamish.

You have to face the facts head on. And one of those facts is that plastic or any type of cosmetic surgery is expensive.

Lifting the face. The average cost of a facelift is $7,448, according to 2017 statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Facelift costs can widely vary. The average fee referenced above is only part of the total cost – it does not include anesthesia, operating room facilities or other related expenses.

That’s a lot of Benjamins. If you take that same $7,448 and invest it instead, after 40 years with a 10% return you could be closing in on $350,000!

I am all for people doing what makes them happy including what makes them look and feel good and confident. But at what price?

In another post, I discuss saving up money and using flexible spending to pay for braces and Lasik.

Lasik eye surgery, while life changing, is expensive. It can cost anywhere from $2500 to $10,000.

I prefer for people to pay cash if they do decide to have any cosmetic procedures performed. Who wants to pay interest on a $500 teeth whitening or $7,000 nose job?

In this case, I urge you to think of the opportunity cost.

Do you need clean, healthy teeth? Yes.

Do you need teeth so white that it blinds you every time you look in the mirror? No.

Think practically.

I have to agree with Dave Ramsey on this one: Learn to age gracefully.

MONEY IS A MOTIVATOR

A common theme on the show Nip/Tuck was money. Those guys lived in excess.

First, working in Miami Florida and then moving on to Los Angeles.

These guys knew where the money was and what type of clientele could afford their services.

They were not all about the money though. They performed tons of pro bono work.

I decided to pursue financial freedom because I did not want the lack of money to cause me to make bad financial decisions.

See my post Confessions Of A Teenage Waitress

Pick a target number. Make a goal. Then aim for it. That is the secret sauce to financial independence.

However, the secret ingredient is patience.

It takes time to get wealthy.

It is not easy to get rich.

It is not easy to get thin.

All good things take time.

It took me a year to save up my first $10,000. It took me 6 years to start saving 40% of my income. It took me years to save up my first $100,000.

It usually takes 10 years to save the first $100,000. Then it takes about 4 years to make the next $100,000.

Knowledge and money accumulate and compound over time. YOU HAVE TO PUT THE WORK IN! And then be willing to wait. You get back out of anything what you put in.

The problem is that no one wants to GET RICH SLOW.

Dave Ramsey has said he worked his tail off for 25 years, but today people call him an overnight success.

The thing of it is, when you are not trying to get rich quick you will GET RICH SLOW. Or as I like to say, GET RICH LEISURELY.

Through automation of savings and investments over time. Those are the words and advice of The Automatic Millionaire author David Bach.

Let those words be a reminder and motivator for you to build lasting wealth with patience, time, and persistence.

That is why I have been blogging for 3 years.

The reason I write is because I want to inspire the uninspired to act.

So, “tell me has this post inspired you to pursue wealth?”