The FINTEL Link Between the "Money-value of Value" and the "Time-value of Value"

The FINTEL Link Between the “Money-value of Value” and the “Time-value of Value”

The ‘money-value of value’ is directly proportional to the quality of the ‘time-value of value.’ – FINTEL Coach

The above is a theory I came came up with a few days ago. This was after some moments of deep reflection on a professional course I attended.

I call it the Money-Time-Value Theory.

What problem does this theory seek to address?

It provides the answer to questions that go along the lines of:

  • Why do some people earn more than others (income inequality)?
  • Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?
  • How can I increase my earning capacity?
  • How can I add value to myself.
  • How can I get a better paying job?

In other to properly understand what the theory means, I am going to break it down into a few segments and then try to connect the dots for you.

Definition of Terms

1. TIME:

Time is the inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present events into the past. It is a very valuable, scarce and nonrenewable resource in every business and life in general.

Time is money
Time is money!

The saying “time is money” is often used to mean that we should not waste time because we could be using it to make money. You can never regain wasted time.

2. VALUE:

Value means the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable. It refers to the worth of something or the reason to behind your motivation to invest your energy, time or money to achieve or acquire it.

In business parlance, value has quite a number of definitions. But all point to the monetary worth of something. Here are some of them:

Value Scrabble
Value is the worth of something

 

In Accounting, value is the monetary worth of an asset, business entity, good sold, service rendered, or liability or obligation acquired.

In Economics, value is the worth of all the benefits and rights arising from ownership. Two types of economic value are (a) the utility of a good or service, and (b) power of a good or service to command other goods, services, or money, in voluntary exchange.

In Marketing, value is the extent to which a good or service is perceived by its customer to meet his or her needs or wants, measured by customer’s willingness to pay for it. It commonly depends more on the customer’s perception of the worth of the product than on its intrinsic value.

Another term commonly used to describe value is asset.

An asset is an item of property owned by a person or company, regarded as having value and available to meet debts, commitments, or legacies. In Rich Dad’s words, an asset is anything that makes you money.

Asset is value

Talking about asset, we all know that “human resource” is considered an asset to any company because they make money for the company.

In fact, according to enotes.com, they are a company’s greatest asset, more important than real estate or patents.

Humans make the company work. An organization’s human resources are absolutely a part of its assets (though not in the technical sense of being put on a balance sheet?).

Those that meet the requirements will always get hired.

The fundamental job of people in the HR Department is to hunt for big assets, people with great value who will make the company work. Those with the highest value comparative to the company’s needs get hired while others are dropped.

That’s when you hear people say, “there are no jobs”. Well, the truth may be that, you are not employable because your value is not up to the standard required by the company.

Those that meet the requirements will always get hired.

Like every asset, for a human resource to perform optimally, it must be invested in either in time or in money. Which brings us to our next definition.

3. MONEY-VALUE OF VALUE.

Now that you understand that value is something that is intrinsically desirable or valuable, the question you should ask is, “how is value created and what is the output of value”?

To answer this question, I am going to explain another segment of the theory, “the money-value of value”.

Scale for money

The money-value of value can be understood from two dimensions: money invested in and money returns of.

Let me explain.

a.) Money invested in simply refers to the amount of money it costs to create value. Value creation has to do with the performance of actions that increase the worth of goods, services or even a business.

Many business operators now focus on value creation both in the context of creating better value for customers purchasing its products and services, as well as for shareholders in the business who want to see their stake appreciate in value.

Creating value for customers helps sell products and services, while creating value for shareholders, in the form of increases in stock price, insures the future availability of investment capital to fund operations.

It is believed that the value customers receive is equal to the benefits of a product or service minus its costs. That cost is the money-value of value.

b.) “Money returns of” refers to the returns on investment into a particular asset or value. It is the profit that “value” brings.

Return on Investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment. It tries to directly measure the amount of return on a particular investment, relative to the investment’s cost.

Therefore where an investment to create value in asset A results in a higher returns than another asset B, asset A can be said to have a greater “money-value of value” than the asset B.

4. TIME-VALUE OF VALUE

Time-value of value is defined as the length of time invested in creating value.

Stop watch time value
GETTY IMAGES: Time-value of value

For example, there is a general perception that someone who spends two years to learn a skill like fashion designing is expected to know better, perform better and therefore make money than someone who spent just 6 months, ceteris paribus.

In fact, Author Malcolm Gladwell brought the idea of “10,000 hour rule” into the mainstream in his book “Outliers.”

The 10,000 hour rule theory of self-improvement postulates that “the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours.”

That’s where my idea of time-value of value comes from.

So when you see value, one of the things you should think about is the amount of time spent in building that value. That time spent is known as the time-value of value.

5. QUALITY OF THE TIME-VALUE OF VALUE

Quality time-value of value triangle

There are certain school of thoughts that argue against the 10,000 hour rule.

Their argument is that rule is not really about the number of hours you put into something; it’s about “deliberate practice”. In other words, it is about the quality of time used not the length.

If you want to become great at anything, it matters more how you practice than how much you practice.

You don’t just while away time and get distracted in the course of practice and expect to become an expert over time. No! You need to give all of your focus in other to become an expert.

It is this concept of “deliberate practice” that now provides an exception to the 10,000 hour rule, which is: the quality of time put into creating value is more important than the length, ceteris paribus.

Using the illustration I gave earlier, this exception makes it possible to have someone who spent “quality time” learning fashion designing for 6 months becoming more skillful and making more money than another person who spent two long, “low quality” years learning the same skill.

Do you understand?

6. DIRECT PROPORTIONALITY

Lastly, direct proportionality is a mathematical term that is used to describe the behavior of two variables in relation to each other.

Direct proportion is the relationship between two variables when their ratio is equal to a constant value.

Money-value of value directly proportional to time-value of value
Direct proportionality graph

One variable is directly proportional to another if as one variable increases, another amount increases at the same rate. It is the opposite of inverse proportionality where one variable decreases as another increases.

BRINGING THEM ALL TOGETHER.

Now that I have explained the different segments of the theory, let’s look at the theory again and try to connect the dots.

The ‘money-value of value’ is directly proportional to the quality of the ‘time-value of value.’ – FINTEL Coach

Summarily, what this quote means is that:

The money-value of value (money invested in + money returns) is directly proportional (increases in value at the same rate) to the quality of the time-value of value (the deliberate practice + length of time put into the creation of that value).

Q.E.D.

A FEW EXAMPLES

Ceteris Paribus;

1. A  medical doctor who spends 8 long and quality years and thousands of dollars learning his course will definitely be more valuable in the marketplace and also make more money than a teacher who only spent 4 years and less money learning his course.

2. A computer programmer who has spent so much money and time to learn complex and more productive higher computer languages like Python will definitely earn more per project than the average roadside programmer who uses C++ or JavaScript.

3. In the academic system, a Professor earns more than a senior lecturer because he has spent more time and money in the system investing in himself, building is knowledge and creating value (writing research papers) than the lecturer.

4. A professional Architect (FNIA) who has run his practice for years will definitely earn more money than a fresh graduate.

Someone who has invested time and money to build up his financial intelligence over the years has more “money-value” and will make wiser money decisions than another person who has not done so. – Obot Essiet Jr.

5. A registered and ICAN chartered Accountant is exposed to more opportunities and will definitely make more money than an unchartered Accountant.

6. In professional football, top players like Messi and Ronaldo will always be more valuable and make more money than the average football star in Nigeria Premier League (Iheanachor and dem).

This is because of the quality of time these foreign players have spent to practice and develop their talents, as well as the amount of money (money-value) that has been placed on their heads.

7. A job applicant who has spent much money and time investing in himself, taken personal development and career advancement courses, increases his financial literacy and earned more professional qualifications and certificates will definitely be more valuable in the marketplace and make more money than the average applicant who relies on his first class B. Sc. degree.

If you are an undergraduate, a fresh graduate or Corp member please you may have to read this like 5 times for it to sink in.?

Final example:

8. It is obvious that someone who has invested time and money to build up his financial intelligence over the years has more “money-value” and will make wiser money decisions than another person who has not done so.

Are these examples true or false?

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

In conclusion, this theory means that in other for you to make more money, you have to create value either in yourself or in your business. The “value of the value” you create is determined by the money and the quality of time you put into it.

This is where I want to draw the curtain on this theory.

I want to believe you have gotten value.

If so, please drop your comments, observations, suggestions and questions in the box below. I am open for more opportunities to validate this theory.

You may also like:

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2 thoughts on “The FINTEL Link Between the “Money-value of Value” and the “Time-value of Value””

  1. You actually make it appear really easy along with your presentation but I find this matter to be really
    one thing which I feel I would never understand.
    It kind of feels too complex and very huge for me.

    I’m looking forward to your subsequent submit, I’ll try to get
    the cling of it!

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