The Psychological Impact of Sunk Costs

I thought you deserve an update on my NBA play-in game ticket debacle. After literally everything working against me, I had two tickets to last night’s 8-seed play-in game (which cost a total of $550)…..and nobody to go with me. As the week played out, I continually debated what to do about the situation.

So here’s where I was a few days ago. Due to the trainwreck that is the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, ticket prices plummeted for an event they should have increased for. That will happen when one of your best players punches another player, and a different player punches a wall and breaks his hand. As a result, I had two tickets worth a total of $250….down $300 from when I originally purchased them. Whenever I discussed this situation with people, their collective reaction was something along the lines of “Obviously you have to go, otherwise you lost $300.”

This is a very typical way of looking at the situation, but not the right way. This is where the idea of sunk costs comes into play. There’s no way around it, I already spent $550 on these tickets. There’s no undoing that or wishing it away. That’s referred to as a sunk cost….the price that has already been paid for something. What I originally paid for the tickets is absolutely irrelevant to the decision in front of me. It happened and the money is already gone from my bank account.

I had two primary choices in front of me. I could sell the tickets for $250, or I could keep the tickets, add $50 of fuel costs to the equation, and road trip to the game. Put in those terms, going to the game would cost me $300 and not going to the game would give me $300. This decision has to be made without regard for the original $550 of sunk costs. Do I want to stay home and have $300 or pay $300 to go to the game? It’s a much different decision when we look at it that way.

Let’s be honest, it’s hard to think this way. The moment I decide to sell these tickets, I solidify the financial and emotional loss of my mistake. However, what if I didn’t want to go to the game now? Stubbornly thinking with my pride would have cost me $300 for an experience I didn’t want. This is the same psychological warfare that causes us to stay in toxic relationships, hold onto bad financial investments, and stay in crappy jobs. We’ve put so much into them (time, money, energy, love, etc.) and we don’t want to realize the loss. However, we need to disregard the sunk costs. Instead, we need to ask ourselves what the cost/upside is from today. If we’re in a terrible relationship, for example, we can choose to either a) leave and move on to a better life (recognizing the past 6 weeks, 6 months, or 6 years may have been garbage), or b) linger in misery, hoping to rectify a bad situation and justify the misery experienced the past 6 weeks, 6 months, or 6 years. The sunk costs often mess with us, resulting in us inadvertently causing further harm/pain. I know I’ve fallen for that trap before!

So what did I do about the tickets? After much consideration, I decided $300 is still a worthwhile price to pay for a memorable experience and to check off a bucket list item. My buddy TJ even came with me! It was fun gifting him a ticket and sharing that experience together. Considering we didn’t get home until the middle of the night, additional thoughts/reflections on the experience will have to wait for another day. Have a great Saturday!

Protecting Yourself From Yourself

In a recent meeting, someone told me about how they invest in their company’s stock from each paycheck. This in and of itself isn’t worth writing about…..lots of people do this. What she said next is what drew me in. “I really don’t know if this is the best investment, but it makes sure I don’t spend it on something else. I know it’s there.” This is one of the countless ways people play games with themselves to achieve something. Or as I like to call it, “protecting yourself from yourself.”

As I meet with people, lots of versions of this story are told. Lots of interesting ideas, ranging from practical to absurd. Lots of people automate their savings/investing as if it were a utility bill. One friend pays extra on their mortgage instead of saving for their next house to ensure they can’t repurpose that money for a different use. One client loves buying shoes, but knows she could easily overdo it in the shoe-shopping department. Therefore, she only buys a pair of shoes if she accomplishes certain goals in her business. Another client knows they struggle to spend money on themselves (to an unhealthy extent). So we’ve created a structure so that every time they spend money on their kids, they also spend a certain amount on themselves. Another friend, due to some bad (really bad!) childhood experiences growing up, struggled to spend money on dining out. They budgeted for it, but never spent it. I helped them negotiate a ridiculous rule where if there is any unused money in their dining out budget at the end of each month, they have to give it to one of their in-laws. They really don’t want to give money to their in-laws, so they miraculously started spending it each month. Over time, they’ve not only gotten comfortable spending it, but actually learned to enjoy it.

I have a few of my own. In my pursuit to become a more generous person, I recognized the allure investing had on me. Knowing how investing works, how powerful it can be, and frankly just liking the process of it, I knew it could potentially inhibit my giving journey. Therefore, we negotiated a rule in our house about a decade ago. Never again would we invest more than we give. We have to give at least as much as we invest. No exceptions. This one simple decision has transformed the way we approach finances, investing, and generosity. It was a simple decision, with simple implementation, with powerful results. Protecting myself from myself.

What are some ways you protect yourself from yourself? I’d love to hear your ideas, whether they are practical or absurd.