Answer extracted from the Your Next Dollar: Money Management for High Earners podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How to buy back your time when your income increases?
Outsource tasks where the service cost is lower than your hourly rate, freeing you to focus on higher-value activities that match your income level. Professional services like lawn care reclaim substantial time each month, making the investment genuinely worthwhile as your earnings grow.
The math is straightforward. When your hourly rate climbs, your opportunity cost of spending time on low-value tasks rises dramatically. At that point, hiring someone to handle those tasks becomes financially sensible, not wasteful.
The Lawn Care Example: Real Numbers
Consider lawn care as a concrete case. A $75 monthly fee reclaims five hours every single week, or 20 hours every month. If your hourly rate exceeds $3.75, you're already ahead financially by outsourcing—and if you earn significantly more, the value multiplies.
As detailed in the episode on Your Next Dollar, this principle extends across multiple service categories. The logic remains the same: calculate your effective hourly rate, compare it to the service cost, and decide whether your time is better spent earning or creating value elsewhere.
Beyond Time: The Compound Effect on Income
The real gain emerges over time. Those 20 recovered hours each month can be reinvested in client work, business growth, or skill development that directly drives your income higher. Each hour you buy back compounds your earning potential, especially if you redirect it toward activities that move the needle on your revenue.
Ryan Sterling, CEO of NerdWallet Wealth Partners, emphasizes this logic when working with high-earning clients. The principle isn't about laziness—it's about resource allocation at scale.
"Emotions are the number one eroder of wealth over time. Having somebody in your corner that can check you on your own blind spots is invaluable."
Ryan Sterling — CEO of NerdWallet Wealth Partners and co-host of Your Next Dollar. With two decades in the financial advisory business and all relevant credentials, Sterling works with high-earning clients on wealth management, employee equity, and financial planning, meeting with them quarterly to guide their financial decisions.
This mindset—checking your blind spots—applies directly to outsourcing decisions. Many high earners resist buying back time because of guilt or a lingering scarcity mindset. But the full episode explores the psychological and financial barriers to spending intentionally on your own time and values.
Key takeaways
- Compare the hourly service cost to your actual hourly rate—if the service costs less, outsourcing is financially rational.
- Lawn care at $75 per month saves 20 hours monthly, making it cost-effective for most high earners.
- Recovered time reinvested in higher-value activities compounds your earning potential over time.
- Outsourcing isn't wasteful spending; it's a strategic reallocation of your most limited resource—your hours.
See also
Should you invest money instead of paying cash for a car if you can get 0% or 1% financing?
Even with 0% or 1% financing, you must factor in the vehicle's depreciation. If you buy a $50,000 car at 0% financing and it depreciates to $30,000 in one year, the financial advantage of low-rate financing often disappears.
What is the risk of being underwater on a financed vehicle, and how does a 20% down payment protect you?
When you finance a vehicle, it depreciates immediately upon leaving the lot by 15%, 20%, or 25% depending on vehicle type. A 20% down payment acts as a cushion if you total the car early, protecting you from owing more than it's worth.
How can you accumulate enough cash to purchase the next car without financing?
Once your current car is paid off, take the monthly payment amount you were making and continue depositing it into a high-yield savings account. Over time, this discipline builds enough cash to purchase your next vehicle outright.