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BY THE 1990s, New York City had been in decline for decades. What brought about the city’s recovery? It was, in part, the broken windows theory.
Picture a vacant building with one window broken. Most people wouldn’t think much of it. But this one broken window sends a signal—and, soon enough, others get broken. How do you reverse this decline? It’s easy: You get rid of the broken windows, and make sure things stay that way.
What does this have to do with money? I took my first personal finance course as a community college freshman. The teacher didn’t have a finance background. Still, he offered the class his theory about personal finance.
He said he fixes things quickly rather than procrastinating over problems. For instance, if his car had a cracked taillight but the bulb still worked, it wouldn’t be an issue to continue driving the car. But he felt that, if he didn’t replace the taillight, water would get into the light socket and cause more damage. The cost of the resulting damage would far exceed the cost of a new taillight. That idea has stayed with me to this day.
Taking care of the little things early in the game can save us money in the long run. For instance, after accidents and surgeries, failing to go to physical therapy has caused many of my friends to end up with reduced mobility.
Similarly, not caulking your windows can result in water leaking into your house, plus the resulting draft can cause your heating and air-conditioning bills to soar. Caulk is cheap. Heating and AC bills are not.
Fixing minor problems before they get bigger can not only boost pride of ownership, but also it can save you money in the long run. In my old field of property-and-casualty insurance, this is referred to as “minimizing the loss.” A tree that falls on your house and leaves a hole in your roof will only get worse unless you put a tarp over the hole. The tarp is cheap, but the potential water damage is huge.
This approach to fixing problems helped return New York City to its glory—and it can help you by saving serious money.
AFTER I STOPPED working at age 70, the first thing I did was to examine my investments and cash flow. Satisfied that my finances were robust, I next turned to a key question: What did I want to do with the rest of my life?
You see, I’d always used work as my life’s organizing principle. It gave me purpose and provided much-needed money. What about my free time? Similar to work, I’d used chores and projects to organize my days.
But now that I had abundant free time, I needed a new direction. I sat down and listed all the things I did. I was taking a nutrition class, so I listed “school” as one category. “Fixing stuff” was another category.
After completing my list, I marked which activities I liked to do and which ones I didn’t. In making this division, I didn’t consider whether or not I should do these things. Rather, I marked the things I wanted to do—and those I didn’t—regardless of their importance.
Finally, I lumped my favorite activities into a few broad categories. By the end of this winnowing process, I’d come up with three general pursuits. I’m not trying to convince you to adopt my three categories. But I do find my short list helpful whenever I’m bored and wondering what to do next. My list: exploring, learning and accomplishing.
Exploring could mean traveling to Tibet or driving down a street I’ve never seen before.
Learning will never mean getting a degree. I hated school. I got my bachelor’s degree but didn’t enjoy it. No, to me, learning means gaining a new skill. I’m currently learning leather crafting by making a belt.
Accomplishing can mean replacing the brake pads on my car or mowing the lawn. I just feel good about how I’ve spent my time whenever I accomplish something tangible.
When I have nothing to do and feel bored, I refer to my list of three possible pursuits to give me direction. This check-in, in turn, gives me motivation to move forward.
After each task is complete, I assess how I feel. I consistently find that, to some degree, I’ve enjoyed the activity. That tells me these three endeavors are my true north.
Retirement was never a goal of mine. I’ve known people who worked for schools, the fire department or companies that offered pensions. In every case, these people would count down the days until they could retire. Meanwhile, the FIRE—financial independence, retire early—movement is about how long these devotees must work before they can call it quits.
I was entitled to two pensions from former employers. But even combined, they wouldn’t be enough to live on, so work became my activity of choice in my earlier years, not leisure.
Now that I’m retired, though, I need ideas for how to spend my time. Knowing the three things that turn me on—plus the freedom to choose which activities I don’t want to do—helps me enjoy this new phase in my life. After all, it’s my life. Why not try to enjoy it?
David Gartland was born and raised on Long Island, New York, and has lived in central New Jersey since 1987. He earned a bachelor’s degree in math from the State University of New York at Cortland and holds various professional insurance designations. Dave’s property and casualty insurance career with different companies lasted 42 years. He’s been married 36 years, and has a son with special needs. Check out Dave’s earlier articles.
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The ” broken windows” theory is highly suspect…correlation is not causation.
https://news.northeastern.edu/2019/05/15/northeastern-university-researchers-find-little-evidence-for-broken-windows-theory-say-neighborhood-disorder-doesnt-cause-crime/#:~:text=September%2013%2C%202024-,Northeastern%20University%20researchers%20find%20little%20evidence%20for%20'broken%20windows%20theory,disorder%20doesn't%20cause%20crime
Mike: Academics, like the author of your article can prove or disprove anything they choose to, and usually, it is to benefit those paying them to do the research.
Millions of New Yorker’s might have an issue with your contention that the “broken window theory” didn’t benefit them, as the article’s authors contend.
Having spent the last 15 years of my career as an academic and having written articles like this one, I am speaking from experience, not theory.
The article referenced above uses a classic mechanism to disprove the original result by changing the focus of the research. They didn’t replicate the research, which is the actual method used to prove or disprove prior research, instead they substituted different questions and of course, reached different conclusions.
The so called “Social Scientists” like the ones who published this article simply don’t like that the proof doesn’t fit their world view, from a social justice perspective, so they set out to diminish the research. The proof of the validity of the theory is evidenced by the success cities who have implemented the “broken window theory” have enjoyed after doing so.
Where research is concerned it is often well to remember, “Figures never lie, but sometimes liars figure.”
David, you write many thought provoking articles, and this one is probably one of your best…at least for me. We both have many similarities in self learning. I don’t have the auto mechanic mind like you, but after retirement and having a long interest in antique clocks since my 20’s, I took a long weekend class on clock repair. It has been a hobby of mine for 14 years now and I belong to several clock groups where we get mentorship from very experienced horologists.
I’ve only been to NYC once, over 40 years ago and I don’t keep up with much news about the city, but what or who do you think was responsible for “ fixing problems helped return New York City to its glory?”
David, I enjoyed your article on procrastination! It hit home. When I was working, time was short so if something broke, I fixed it then so as not to be bothered later. After I retired and my wife became ill, I started delaying some things because they didn’t reach a threshold of importance. She passed away two and a half years ago and I am now trying to get back to dealing with the issues of daily life. It’s taken me a while but I am getting there. Each task I do now feels like an accomplishment and I once again like that feeling! Thank you. Bob