#034 - The Wealthy Window Washer (2nd Edition)
A window washer's letter to his two daughters on how to find the "good life" in a noisy world.
Don’t want to read? No problem! You can listen to me reading to you by clicking the play button above.
Welcome to the 34th edition of The Wealth Letters, a crowdsourced anthology from people of all walks of life on how to discover enoughness in a noisy world.
If you haven’t done so, please read or listen to the manifesto before diving in to the collection, as it will give a clear vision of the project; the Who, What, and Why.
The following letter is an updated (version 2) letter written by Jordan Olmscheid to his two daughters on how to find the “good life” in a noisy world (written on April 26, 2024). The original (and much too long letter) can be viewed here.
The original letter (written on November 29, 2022) absolutely applies, but as time passes, I (Jordan) continue to learn, grow, and have new discoveries that I want to pass on to my daughters. Not to mention that brevity is usually the better option.
Jordan is a girl dad, husband, Christian, small business owner, and curator of The Wealth Letters.
Jordan, pictured with his wife, Carmen, and daughters Evelyn & Lillian. Photo credit to Maggie Kamenick.
Dear Evelyn & Lillian,
has a theory in his book, Steal Like an Artist, that says:“When people give you advice, they are really just talking to themselves in the past.”
So, even though this letter is designed for you both, it’s also me talking to the younger Jordan of high school who was ingrained in academics and sports; working non-stop towards college and that “next step” of life. I am also talking to the younger Jordan in college, just about to graduate and getting prepared for the “real world.”
Life is noisy…you are bombarded from every angle on what you should be (and what you shouldn’t), who you should be (and who you shouldn’t), what to look like, what to say, how to act, what you should feel, and on and on…you have a computer in your pocket with 10 apps that are designed to give you a 1 minute dopamine hit and scroll to the next…these apps are designed to keep you coming back by promising you ways to be better, look better, and attain the happiness that seemingly many other people have, that you don’t!
The world is screaming for your attention, and will do almost anything to get it…I’m not going to lie, you are going to battle every single day, and I assure you that you likely will continue to be bombarded with this noise non-stop…so, what do you do with that?
You need to trust the story that you are enough…in Genesis, God created the earth and everything in it, and said it was GOOD. God’s story of creation says that it is good…meaning that YOU are good; YOU are enough.1
You are going to be confronted with a few questions, early and often, and they’re questions that may not always seem so clear or straight-forward to answer (and that’s okay)!
What does it all mean?
Why am I here?
How do I find happiness, contentment, and meaning? (The Good Life)
These are the very questions I have been asking myself for as long as I can remember (and still seem to ask myself these questions even to this day). While I certainly don’t have the magic answers, I do have experiences that have molded my own answers to these questions (and perhaps it might help you navigate the answers to your questions).
So here goes.
We all need to work. Work at jobs to support our families, work to get good grades in school, work to become a better athlete, work to create and keep lasting relationships… do not look at work as a penalty; look at it as a blessing! Look at it as something we were designed to do.
Arthur Brooks2 talks about meaningful work and provides a parable that illustrates this well:
There’s an old story about a guy who is walking down the street and he sees somebody who is putting one brick on top of another, and he asks him, “So, what are you doing?” The man replied, “Well, obviously, I am just laying bricks.” There is another guy next to him doing the same thing. So, he asks him, “What are you doing?” The second man said, “Well, I am building a wall.” There is a third guy doing the same thing, and he asks him, “What are you doing?” The third man said, “I am building a Cathedral.”
What’s your answer to how you look at your work?
“Are you laying bricks or are you building a cathedral?”
The next elephant in the room we all must navigate is money. Many have said that "money doesn't buy happiness.” But girls, as your grandpa says, "I would sure like to give it a try." Even though I KNOW this to be true, I still struggle with thinking that money will provide me security, and that if I just had “X” dollars, I would be secure & content. This is a scarcity mindset in that says I don’t fully trust God and his abundance. Rather, I am caught up with what the world (empire) tells me what security looks like.3
Please understand that money is not what life and wealth is all about, and money, on its own, does not equate to happiness. However, I do feel that having a healthy relationship with money, and building a strong financial foundation will give you more space to focus on the other important things in your life, rather than stressing about your finances.
Invest your money with simplicity & low costs.
Listen to JL Collins from his book on how to take The Simple Path to Wealth. Mr. Collins has a place in my heart because he wrote the book for his daughter with the hope to help her navigate money successfully; just as I am now writing to you both, hoping I can save you from some of the mistakes I have made. JL tells his daughter to save a portion of her income (more is better), live on less, and invest the difference. Invest in low cost index or target date funds with low fees. Many employers have these options available to their employees, and you can even invest in these vehicles without an employer through an IRA. We can talk about this more when you are ready, but for now, understand the The Simple Path to Wealth in one sentence:
“Live on less than you earn, and invest the difference.”
Mr. Collins even writes about the Simplest Path to Wealth of all, which is perhaps the utmost easiest way to invest it and forget it, which is through low-cost target-date funds. You put in an age that you think you will stop working at, and the fund will invest your money for you, and will get less aggressive as you age all on auto-pilot. If you don’t want to have to think at all about how to invest your money, then I suggest taking JL’s advice and investing your money into a target date retirement fund!
Sounds so easy doesn’t it? But, we are human beings that get caught up in fear and greed when it comes to our money.
It took first-hand experience for me to realize that the simple formula for investing is, indeed, simple, but difficult to follow. In the past few years with the COVID pandemic, high inflation, and rising interest rates causing the stock market to move up and down by 30% or more in short order, I did not “stay the course.”4
I got scared when I saw your mother and I’s hard earned money seemingly dwindling away as everyone was saying that, “This time is different! The stock market is surely going to plunge further! We are headed to another Great Depression because we are in a world-wide pandemic!”
Your mother and I had been diligently saving on our high-income teaching salaries for years. Yes, this is sarcasm - as they say, “You don’t get into teaching for the money.” For me to see years of diligent saving being wiped out in short order causes one to do irrational things.
I thought I knew better and got out of the market. And guess what happened? You got it! The market recovered quickly and furiously. I consider myself to be an educated individual when it comes to money and finances; and yet, I made the exact mistake that I said I would never do, which was to think that I knew better than the market.
Sometimes we need to experience things ourselves to truly believe it. Well girls, I experienced the downfall of thinking I knew better than the market. Don’t do this…invest your money with simplicity and continue to do so over time.
Ok, one last simple formula for you on this mammoth we have to deal with in life called money. Bob & Linda Lotich, authors of Simple Money, Rich Life gives us four short statements for how to have a healthy relationship with money, which is:
“Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can. Enjoy it all.”
Bob and Linda take the “give all you can” statement to the extreme: They have a goal of giving away their age in % of their income every year! Think about that, if they are 40 years old, they will give away 40% of everything they make. For the Lotich’s, they are living proof that they can live a rich life while still giving away a large portion of their money. You can live a fruitful, enjoyable life where one can be christ-centered and have money! It doesn’t need to be an either-or thing.
Girls, there is only 1 thing in this world that actually is too good to be and is true…and that is God’s grace! What is grace? In simple terms, it is something given that is not deserved.
Think about a time when you treated someone with utter disrespect, and you knew that you deserved the consequences of your actions…but, the person forgave you with no strings attached. That is grace.
We are all imperfect people living in an imperfect world. We all will someday pass on from this earth, but it is our gracious God, who by His choice and by His grace, has forgiven our imperfections and tells us that we are enough. You are enough!
Because you are enough in His eyes, you don’t need to look back and wonder what “could have been.” This robs you of your joy. It robs you of what is right in front of you now. I now look at where I am today with a healthy marriage, two beautiful baby girls, a supportive family and friends group; and I know that what has happened in my past has shaped me and prepared me to do what I am called to do - which is to be a loving husband, father, and follower of Christ. If I commit to being those things, the rest will fall into place.
It’s not door A or door B, and you choose wrong. Rather, God will bless you whichever path you choose.5
Find your battle buddies. Your mother and I have a support group that we can turn to when life is going along smoothly, as well as when the inevitable times come when life can’t seem to be going more wrong. We are blessed to have close relationships with our parents and siblings that we can feel comfortable telling our struggles to, and asking for guidance.
Evelyn, your godfather called me every single day, without fail, to just listen when I was going through a very tough time in my life in high school. To this day, we know we are there for one another no matter what happens. We are battle buddies.
Your mother and I are in a small group with other Christians who are in the same stage of life as we are. We are all navigating the trials of balancing careers, raising kids, and trying to strengthen our marriages. They challenge us to think beyond ourselves; to think beyond our struggles of the moment. Having a small group of people to do life with that you can count on, and can trust, will pay dividends to you. We are not made to navigate this life on our own.
As much as I would love it if you both would consider your mom and me to be in your battle buddies, I understand that this may not always be the case. And so, I urge you to perform your due diligence on who is going to be your team of people; your battle buddies. Will they push you to strengthen your faith? Will they give you the opportunity to be you? Will they challenge you, in a healthy way, to achieve your goals and vision for your life?
Proverbs 13:20 says that:
“He who walks with wise men will be wise. When you choose to surround yourself with good company, these people will support and encourage you on your path towards your destiny.”
Find a mentor (or two, or three)
There is a saying that says, “Don’t re-invent the wheel.” You both are going to be confronted with countless decisions. Seemingly simple decisions like:
What do I want to eat?
What should I wear?
What movie do I want to watch?
But, you will also be faced with decisions that will not be so easy:
Should I go to college?
Where do I want to go to college?
Should I be dating that person?
Will this purchase provide positive outcomes to my life?
And, even decisions that may seem unanswerable:
Who am I going to be?
What am I supposed to do with my life?
Why am I here?
Some of these decisions you will be able to make without much thought. But, some of these decisions will cause you to truly think critically; to question which direction of action is best. This can be scary on your own, especially if you don’t have the experience to draw from to make an educated decision.
Don’t re-invent the wheel. Find those who have experienced similar decisions before you. What happened to them? How did they feel? What do they wish they would have done differently?
I own a business, and I would not be successful without the mentorship of my parents (your grandma and grandpa). Why? Because they both own or have owned their own businesses ever since I can remember. Owning a business is not something that comes naturally. It takes trial and error. It takes long hours. It takes experiencing what works and what doesn’t. These have all been true in my experience as a business owner.
But, the mentorship of being able to ask my parents for guidance on what has worked for them, roadblocks to consider, and ideas to make the business better considerably shortened my learning curve, and helped in alleviating the mistakes they went through on their business journeys.
It is invaluable having a mentor (or two, or three) who you have fact-checked, studied, and done your due diligence on enough to know that their guidance and wisdom can be reliably counted upon without question. The people in my life that I can go to with a question or concern, and take their guidance and wisdom without question, is my mother (your grandma O.), my father-in-law (your grandpa J.), my older brother (your uncle Darrin), and the men in my small group. Over time, their modeling and guidance has proven time and again to be reliable.
Who are you going to count on when you have decisions to make that seem like there is no right answer? Who can you go to, without question, and know that their guidance is reliable?
Find them, and ask for directions.6
Things don't always make sense, but they don't always have to
That’s tough for my perfectionist black and white brain to deal with. I want to know the answers. I want to know what’s next. I like having a plan in place for everything in life.
But, that is not how life always works. Sometimes, the answers aren’t always available in the moment. Sometimes, you cannot know what is next. Sometimes, your plan is completely torn apart. What will you do when things don’t make sense? When life seems to be unfair? When you are confronted with struggles and cannot seem to find the answer?
To be honest, I don’t have the answer to these questions. I have had a rollercoaster of plans that have changed from being set on playing college basketball at a top academic school, to deciding to not go to college at the last moment, being mentored on business, to going back to college, to coaching college basketball, to becoming a teacher, to working 80+ hour weeks building a business (don’t worry, that was before you both were born), to now being a physical laborer as the majority of my profession.
I don't always know how or why this avenue has been taken, but I am learning that I don’t always need to know. There is someone greater than I who has the plan in place, and I just need to trust the story.7
You will find that the more you rely on Him, the more He will meet you halfway and continue to provide.
Comparison is the thief of joy and true self-contentment.8
We are told what is beautiful. We are told what will make us happy. We are told what we should want, how we should feel, and how we should be treated. So, what happens when our circumstances do not line up with what we are told? I don’t have a million dollars, so I must not be financially secure. I don’t get to go on the 2-week vacations that I am seeing posted on social media, so I must be missing out. Everyone I see always looks so happy and seem to have it all together; what am I doing wrong?
These are questions I have asked myself. And maybe, these are questions you have asked yourself too.
Dr. Amy Silver said:
“The process of constantly evaluating our own behavior, thoughts, emotions, relationships, jobs, houses, clothes, looks, lives to each other is one of the most damaging internal narratives we can have.
It can make us miserable as we assess our own situations in comparison to the world of others.”
It can be so easy to compare. To want to get to what’s next. To want to get out of school and go to college. To want to get out of college and get into the work force. To want to get to a higher paying job, so that you can buy a nice home. To want to focus on saving your money so that you can someday retire.
On their own, none of these things are bad (they are actually quite good in moderation). But, if we put our focus on only those things, we miss out on Shalom (God’s blessing of peace, rest, & abundance in the NOW, not some distant future).9
Ok, if you made it this far, thank you for humoring your father…I leave you with something that has helped me when I am struggling with what seems to be the weight of the world on my shoulders; wondering why bad things happen, wondering why I am not always happy; ultimately wondering why I’m here…
It’s an overly simplistic, but oh so powerful phrase from pastor Francis Chan, and he says: “We are here to love God, others, and self…not much else matters.”10
Evelyn & Lillian…Have dreams. Have goals. Have fun! And when it seems like things just aren’t going the way you envisioned, remember that you are seen…you are enough…you are loved.
If you take the stance of love, hospitality, and trusting God’s story, the “good life” will be yours.
Love,
Dad
Thank You for Your Support!
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If that sounds interesting to you, here is a link to write your letter for the collection.
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I always appreciate any feedback, ideas for letters, or just to chat!
Reach out via email: support@thewealthletters.com or by commenting on this post.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Jordan
From the BEMA Discipleship Podcast.
Arthur Brooks is a Harvard professor & author.
Marty Solomon & Brent Billings from the BEMA Discipleship Podcast. Episode 98.
Quote attributed to John Bogle.
Quote attributed to Mike Gerber.
Quote attributed to David Meltzer.
Quote/slogan attributed to Marty Solomon of the BEMA Discipleship Podcast.
This is a wisdom that has been attributed to Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, C.S. Lewis, among others.
Definition attributed to Marty Solomon of the BEMA Discipleship Podcast.
Quote attributed to Pastor Francis Chan.
Well said Jordan, similar well said. :)
Your daughters are lucky to have such a thoughtful, reflective, loving dad! There’s so much wisdom here.