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Sir Isaac Newton has rightfully taken a place in the pantheon of great scientists.
Newton, Galileo and Einstein make up the triumvirate that is the Fathers of Physics.
As a great percentage of my livelihood results from the science of physics it would seem odd that I would be blaspheming the one who helped make it all possible.
I actually have nothing against Sir Isaac Newton which the title of this post may have lead you to believe.
Rather I have beef with one of the most famous laws of physics attributed to him, Newton’s Three Laws of Motion.
To be more specific, it is the first of these three laws that has caused much consternation in my life, often referred to as Newton’s Law of Inertia.
Every school kid can recognize this particular law of physics as the one that states:
“An object at rest tends to stay at rest. An object in motion tends to stay in motion.”
Many of my mistakes, financial or otherwise, can be traced back to this particular law.
Inertia.
Inertia has often caused me to maintain the status quo because my body at rest wanted to stay at rest, and because of this I often missed out on opportunities for greater rewards.
It often takes quite an effort to change one’s trajectory in life.
As children we grow accustomed to routines, often passed down to us from our parents, and soon find ourselves in a rut that is hard to dig out of.
It is much easier to stick to what is known than to explore the unknown.
Thus we become complacent.
A prime example of this was my hesitation to start the very blog you are reading now.
I knew I loved to write, have been told I am quite good at it, and have also developed a passion for personal finance that arose from the school of hard knocks that was my life.
This combination seemed perfect for me to create and maintain a blog.
Yet despite over two years of encouragement from medical colleagues I was no further along in the process than when I first even had an inkling of wanting to blog.
Two years!
Why did it take that long for me to try my hand at blogging?
Was it the cost?
No. Blogging is one of those activities that you can do with little upfront cost (often a couple hundred dollars or less).
No, it was inertia that was holding me down, far stronger than any gravitational/magnetic field around me.
In my inaugural blog post, I described how that first step was the hardest.
That first step was the hardest because it required a “Herculean effort” to break the bonds of inertia that had held it to the ground for so long.
Damn you Sir Isaac Newton.
There are so many other instances where our bodies at rest betray us and cause us to incur financial penalties.
Have you ever noticed that a common method of getting people to try a service is by offering a limited time free subscription?
Whether it be an introductory free TV programming package, music service, or magazine subscription, the premise behind these offers is that there will be a percentage (often a large one) of subscribers that will let these trial offers lapse and inadvertently become paid subscribers.
These companies are relying on the principles of inertia preventing you from taking the necessary steps to cancel these subscriptions in time.
I have fallen victim to this ploy numerous times in the past (I now either forgo the trial subscription altogether or make sure I add the cancel by date to my smart phone calendar as soon as I accept the offer)
Damn you Sir Isaac Newton.
Another example of this law being a thorn in my financial side is made possible courtesy of my optometrist.
I have a family vision and dental plan through my work which deducts the premium through my paycheck.
These plans require you to receive your services at participating providers.
No problem.
I found a great optometrist that was near my home, had great reviews and excellent facilities, and happened to be under the preferred provider list.
I was set.
Until I wasn’t.
A couple of years into this relationship the optometrist decided that he would no longer be accepting this insurance and thus dropped off the provider list.
I am not even sure if I was given notice of this change but I soon realized that I was now footing a $120+ bill for every family visit when before it was a minimal co-pay.
So did I do the right thing and find another provider that accepted this insurance?
Sadly no.
I continued paying a premium for services that would have been covered under my insurance plan elsewhere and, to rub salt in the wound, I also continued to pay for a plan I was not using.
[I can feel Dr. McFrugal throwing stuff at his monitor and shaking his head in disbelief at me.]
Do I like throwing 100s of dollars away each year?
Of course not.
So what gives?
Inertia.
I was apparently too lazy to find a qualified optometrist under the plan and sign the necessary documents.
Although inertia played a large part in this, there was another responsible component that I hate to admit but here goes:
For some reason, I thought I would be looked down upon if the reason I was transferring my family to another office was money related.
I know.
It was an absolute ridiculous line of thinking but unfortunately pride did indeed play a part in my rationalization of staying with the original optometrist.
So am I still with this original optometrist?
Thankfully no.
The bonds of inertia (and pride) were broken when I bought a new pair of eyeglasses in 2018 (some 3 or 4 years later after the insurance coverage change) and tried to submit a claim through my insurance company’s out-of-network claims department.
Unbeknownst to me, my claim was originally denied as they incorrectly thought this was my second pair of glasses obtained during the year.
It turns out, through some clerical error, someone had put a prior claim for my daughter’s eyeglasses she received earlier under my name.
There was no denial letter explaining this or any phone call.
I reached out to the insurance company when I finally realized it had been months since I submitted the claim and heard nothing.
After multiple phone calls and having to re-submit the form, I was finally rewarded with a $20 check for an over $300 pair of glasses.
At this point I thought enough was enough and took the necessary steps to transfer my family to a provider covered under insurance.
Damn you sir Isaac Newton.
So how has Newton’s first law of motion impacted your financial journey to wealth? Please comment below.
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-Xrayvsn
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Ha – now we have both blogged about Sir Issac! Great post, inertia is a killer. When you just move you tend to keep moving.
Great minds think alike. I will have to go back to your site and find that post as it must have been before I became a fan/reader.
Ok wow you and I are on the same wavelength today with our posts! So, so true that we can slip into habits unknowingly and then just … ride them out. Because making change is hard, but when it comes to $120 per month — or heck, just mental bandwidth — it’s worth that Herculean effort.
I am definitely going to have to check out your post. I have been so behind because of FinCon that I am all out of sorts getting back into my routine. lol 🙂
UGH sooooo bummed I missed meeting you and everyone else at FinCon. Stupid hurricane.
🙁 yeah that was an awful timing for a hurricane (if there ever is such a thing as good timing for a hurricane).
My fiance was in Gainesville and was supposed to fly out Tues, but I rescheduled it for Sunday and she was able to come to FinCon (I know another Doc who was supposed to drive (Brenda K.) and she ended up booking an early flight to escape as well).
I did buy tickets for FinCon2020 but it’s in long beach so not sure if that is too far for you but I hope to go.
Ok I had never thought of things in those terms but you are spot on! I can see many issues that have been caused by being complacent. I will try to be much more aware! Thank you for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed my take on things and of course blaming poor sir Isaac. Lol. Inertia gets the best of us and can be hard to break. Best of luck breaking your bonds and finding ways to capitalize your situation
The coefficient of static friction is almost always greater than the coefficient of dynamic friction. Thus it’s harder to get moving than to keep moving. That first step to get moving is the toughest, but even physics says it gets easier after that.
I really liked your metaphor, as I read your column that came to mind.
I love the explanation from the engineer standpoint. Very true and hits some of other laws like a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Appreciate your insight as always
I’ve known for months that Mint is cheaper than my current provider — by about half. But I’m worried about getting my old number ported in. So it took me until this Monday to get off my ass and sign up for the service. Now I just have to get my ass in gear inre: porting my old number to the new SIM card. It feels daunting, but I just need to suck it up and do it. Tomorrow. (Not because of inertia but because I have other things going on today, I swear.)
Well my philosophy is better late than never. But I totally get where you are coming from. It is so easy just to put everything on automatic payments and be unaware as prices rise etc (frog in slow boiling water parable comes to mind) and I am pretty sure that’s why companies rely on those introductory offers to rope in the likes of us.
You get to have one last laugh: Newton invested in the first bubble in history, the South Sea Company. I’ll take Vanguard and a private waterfall over that any day.
That was one fact about Newton I did not know. I guess even geniuses make mistakes now and then too.
Ibsolutely agree. I have
iwasted a lot of dollars with these subscription and law of inertia. I do not accept any 14 day or one month free subscriptions anymore. Wonderful post for everyone to be reminded of.
Thanks Aneesh. Yes those trial subscriptions can get you. I don’t fall for them but my daughter occasionally does with some of her apple subscriptions. She is slowly learning her lesson as it comes directly out of her savings.
Inertia is very difficult to overcome. Unless you’re really motivated, you won’t change. The main reason why I wanted to retire early is because my job wasn’t a good fit anymore. I had to make a change or else I’d go nuts.
I agree about blogging. Starting is very difficult. There are all kinds of things to do to get your site running. Writing is hard for beginners too. Luckily, I ignored all that and started. Blogging is very rewarding for me.
I am definitely glad you stuck with blogging as you have motivated me for a long time. It is rewarding for me too (although can sometimes be emotional roller coaster).