The Birthday I Didn't Spend

Good morning {{first_name|Reader}}.

Birthday week! I turned 38 today. As a kid, birthdays felt really special. It was permission to ask for things you wanted, an excuse to celebrate (and go to Red Lobster for dinner). Now I feel like birthdays are just a marker. Another year gone. Another reminder that midlife isn't 50. It's late 30s. The clock is ticking.

Had some choices to make this week. Sold a few watches I wasn't wearing. Had some money sitting around and the urge to spend it on things I don't need. Resisted. Set up our Roth IRAs for 2026 instead. Adjusted the contributions to hit the new limits. Set it up automatic investments so it’s locked it in on autopilot.

This week: a Seiko GMT I'm seriously considering, the watches I sold and what I did with the money, the $15K/year we're putting into retirement accounts, and why birthdays hit different when you realize time is the only resource that matters.

Let's get into it.

Seriously considering this one. Black dial, black bezel, steel case, GMT complication. $360 from Teddy Baldassarre. It's a field watch you can beat the hell out of and not feel bad about it.

I've got a three-week trip coming up to Interior Alaska. Temperatures will be in the -30 to -40°F range. This watch can take it, it’s a Seiko, after all. GMT function is actually useful when you're traveling. No one in the gym would even notice it on my wrist. It's the kind of watch that does its job and doesn't need attention.

The question: what else could $360 buy? That's 12 tanks of gas in the Prius. A single trip to COSTCO in Alaska. A small dent in the Rolex fund. Or a watch I'll actually wear that serves a purpose.

Decision pending. But it's looking good.

Birthdays used to feel like permission to spend. As a kid, you got presents. As an adult, you justify buying yourself something because "it's your birthday." It's an easy mental trap.

This week, I turned 38. And just got in some money from selling watches I wasn't wearing anymore. Serica, Hamilton, Tissot—gone. About $2,000 in cash just waiting to be spent.

Here's what I wanted to buy:

Coffee Machine #1: Technivorm Moccamaster — $350+
Coffee Machine #2: Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker — $350+

Both are great machines. Both make excellent coffee. Both are completely frivolous. We already have an amazing coffee setup that works. These would be upgrading the upgrade we already have. Spending money to feel like I'm treating myself.

Ever get that feeling when unexpected money comes in, tax refund, bonus, selling something, and you feel like you have to spend it? Like it's not "real money" so it doesn't count against your budget?

I know that feeling. And it's a trap.

That $2,000 from the watches I sold isn't free money. It's $2,000 I could redirect toward something that actually builds my future instead of cluttering my counter.

I'm putting it into Own The Watch.

Specifically: paying an agency to run ads on Instagram and Facebook, plus the ad spend itself. Learning how Meta ads work so one day I can do this myself, and maybe even run ads for other people down the road.

Right now, I don't have the mental bandwidth to learn and become proficient at a new skill. I'm working full-time, raising three kids, waking up at 4:09 AM to build this newsletter. Adding "learn Facebook ads" to that list would break something.

So instead, I'm using this money to buy back time. I'm outsourcing the important work I've been delaying. The agency runs the ads. I focus on writing, growing, and building the thing that will eventually replace my income.

That $2,000 isn't going toward a nicer coffee machine. It's going toward work-optional in my 40s.

Birthdays remind you that time is finite. You don't get this year back. You don't get your late 30s back. Midlife isn't 50, it's right now for me.

You can spend your birthday money on things that feel good for a day, or you can redirect it toward buying back years of your life. The coffee machine would have been nice. The freedom will be better.

The Roth IRA contribution limit increased to $7,500 per year for 2026 (if you're under 50). Last month, I set up my wife's Roth IRA for the first time. This month, I adjusted both of our accounts to max out the new limits.

Total annual contribution: $15,000 ($7,500 each).
Monthly: $1,250 automatically withdrawn and invested.

That's a lot of money. But it's after-tax money that grows completely tax-free. When we're 60, we can pull from these accounts without paying a dime to the IRS. That's the trade: pay taxes now, enjoy the growth later.

Most people focus on 401(k)s because their employer matches contributions. That's great, take the match all day long. But 401(k)s are tax-deferred, which means you pay taxes when you withdraw in retirement.

Roth IRAs are the opposite. You pay taxes on the money now, invest it, and when you withdraw decades later, all the growth is yours. No taxes on the gains. No taxes on the dividends. Nothing.

According to historical data, the S&P 500 has averaged about 10% annual returns over the long term. Let's be conservative and assume 8% average growth for our Roth IRAs.

$15,000/year at 8% growth over 25 years = ~$1.1 million.

That's tax-free. That's ours. That's work-optional money we're building right now by automating $1,250/month.

Here's the key: we don't see this money. It's withdrawn automatically on the 15th of every month. It goes straight into our Roth IRAs and gets invested immediately. We build our budget around what's left, not around our full income.

Most people do it backwards. They spend first, then try to save what's left. That's why most people don't save. It’s reactionary, not proactive.

We automate the savings and investments first. Then we live on what remains. It removes willpower from the equation. The decision was made once. Now it just happens.

If you're under 50 and you're not maxing out a Roth IRA, start now. Even if you can't hit the full $7,500, start with $500/month. $200/month. Whatever you can. Something.

The earlier you start, the more time does the work for you. A 30-year-old who invests $500/month at 8% growth will have over $700K by 60. A 40-year-old who starts the same contributions will have about $300K.

Time is the variable that matters most. Not how much you invest—how long you invest.

Set it up once. Automate it. Let it run. Your future self will thank you.

This Week’s Breakdown

(premium subscribers will see our actual numbers below)

Turning 38 is a reminder that midlife is now. Not 50. Not someday. Right now. Every year that passes is a year you don't get back. The question is: are you spending those years buying things, or are you investing them to buy back time?

Here's how this week's choices stack up:

The watches I sold: Three watches I wasn't wearing, converted into $2,000. That money could have bought coffee machines, or other shit I don't need, or short-term dopamine hits. Instead, it's going into ads that grow Own The Watch, the newsletter that's my path to work-optional. If those ads convert at even modest rates, that $2K investment could add hundreds of subscribers. More subscribers means more leverage. More leverage means replacing income faster.

The Roth IRAs: $15,000/year, locked in on autopilot. In 10 years, that's roughly $217,000 (at 8% growth). In 25 years, over $1 million, tax-free. That's not just money. That's freedom. That's the ability to say no to work we don't want to do. That's time with our family that we didn't have to trade for a paycheck.

The Seiko GMT: $360 for a tool that serves a purpose. If I buy it, it's because it's useful, not because it's my birthday and I "deserve" it. Intentional spending, not emotional spending.

The birthday lesson: Every choice this week was about the same thing, buying back time. Time in our 50s and 60s when work is optional. Time now to build something instead of maintaining someone else's business. Time with my kids before they're gone.

In 10 years, no one will remember the coffee machine I didn't buy. But the $2,000 redirected toward Own The Watch could be the reason this newsletter is generating real income. The $15K/year automated into Roth IRAs will be worth six figures, tax-free, and growing.

In 25 years, those Roth IRAs will fund years of our lives where we don't have to work. The newsletter could be sold, scaled, or still running, but either way, it's an asset we built instead of something we consumed.

The coffee machine would have been nice for a week, maybe even longer. The freedom will be better for a lifetime.

Time is wealth. Not because time equals money, but because wealth is what buys your time back. Spend less than you make. Automate the investments. Buy assets, not toys.

And when your birthday reminds you that the clock is ticking, make sure you're using that time to buy more of it back.

If this resonated, forward it to someone who's dealing with the same choice. Most people will spend the birthday money. You don't have to.

-Ian