Think Like a Texan
The author’s metaphorical advice against the commonality of playing it too safe with their finances. The idea here is the—myth, most likely—that Texans as a collective unit win big and lose big. Losing big is not the goal, of course, but you can never win big if you don’t take the risk of losing big. And risk here is not synonymous with gambling against the odds, but rather with staking financial decisions on the best possible ratio of win versus loss. Rather than going for a small payoff versus practically no impact resulting from a loss, one should look for investment opportunities where the largest gap between how big the return is versus how small the loss would be.
Don’t Let Fear Do the Thinking
The author frames his metaphor is slightly different language: “It’s fear that is all too often doing the thinking.” The metaphor, however, extends beyond just fear to include any emotion that clouds rational thinking and disguises logic. The message being conveyed is that fear of what may go wrong too often trumps rational financial decision-making that would be more effectively situated by considering what could go right if one chose an alternative.
"Money Is the Carrot"
This metaphor relates to the trope of the carrot on a stick being used to guide a beast of burden. The author uses it to illustrate another common example of how people make foolish decision about their money. It is the man in the cart who is holding the stick with the carrot tied to it and he gains something by the carrot in the form of getting to where he wants to go without much effort. The beast of burden, on the other hand, not only has to put in the effort to wind up someplace of no use to him, but he may not even get to the enjoy the carrot. Don’t confuse money with what money what you need, in other words.
The Corporation
The author gives a quick, but efficient and impressively educational lesson on the history of the corporation and how it has allowed the rich to play by a completely different set of rules. The single most effective line in this section, however, is one that is part metaphor and part literal statement of historical fact. What makes it fascinating is that the line is both figurative and literal at the same time.
“The rich created the corporation as a vehicle to limit their risk to the assets of each voyage.”
The Rich Fly While the Poor Walk
The rich are different from the poor. Not only do they already have money, but they have ways to get more money than is accessible to the poor. The author points out the considerable benefit to increasing financial status through incorporation and how this advantage is compounded by the prohibitive cost to the average person of taking advantage of incorporation. The difference between opportunities of the rich versus the limitations of the poor is effectively placed in stark metaphorical terms:
“It’s like the difference between someone walking and someone flying.”
