The Patience Principle: Why a Long-Term Mindset Can Build True and Lasting Wealth
“Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.”
For most of us, resisting immediate gratification is tough—even if the future gain might be significantly bigger. This tension is an economic concept known as time preference, a simple idea with powerful implications. Time preference describes how much more we value a reward today than the same reward tomorrow. High time preference (now) is when we prioritize immediate rewards over future ones while low time preference (later) is choosing to wait for a larger reward in the future.
History suggests remarkable things can unfold when individuals, families, or even entire cultures learn to reverse their tendency toward high time preference and begin to place greater value on the future than the present.
Time preference is more than a personal quirk though—it’s a powerful force that can shape entire economies. Individuals and societies who learn to value the future are the ones who lay the groundwork for enduring prosperity.
Once Upon A Time
The scarcity of time is the starting point of all economic decision-making. Time is unique among resources because it is finite, irreversible, and uncertain. We don't know how much we have, as death could come at any moment, and once time is spent, it can't be recovered.
What we do have is now. Because the present is certain and tangible, we assign higher value to things we can enjoy or use immediately. Survival requires consumption and so humans will always place a higher value on consuming now rather than consuming later. This makes sense—a lack of current consumption could literally mean we don’t make it to the future. This deeply human impulse underpins our time preference.
And just like we trade goods and services, we also trade time—because time, too, holds value. This recognition led economists to begin formalizing how we value the future relative to the present. In the late 19th century Austrian economist Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk explained that in order to delay gratification people require compensation. This became the foundation of interest—the price paid to borrow someone else's time, money, goods, or services.
This isn’t just theory—it’s a principle we live every day, whether we realize it or not. Interest is time preference made visible. It rewards patience and long-term thinking. But time preference isn’t just economic—it’s philosophical. It shows up in how we invest, how we raise our children, and how we plan for the future. And when embraced wisely, it becomes the foundation for creating wealth that endures.
Time Is A Master
In The Natural Order of Money Roy Sebag writes, “Time is the master to which the whole of existence is subservient.” It is the ultimate law of nature to which all things are subject. It saturates our lives, directing how we act, what we value, and what we build.
We see this trade-off clearly in everyday life. Choosing to spend money, to consume, or to relax is also choosing not to invest, to save, or to build.
A cheap product bought today may not last, requiring us to spend again tomorrow. A poorly constructed building may save money in the short run but could cost much more in the long term. Charging dinner to a credit card tonight impedes our ability to save for retirement tomorrow.
We live in a culture addicted to convenience and instant gratification— high time preference. Fast food, one-click purchases, and social media have trained us to expect immediate returns. But lasting wealth—financial or otherwise—is rarely built this way. It takes patience, discipline, and vision.
Conversely, when we cultivate a low time preference mindset—in ourselves and in our society—we build cathedrals, not strip malls. We read books rather than watch 15 second TikToks. We plant fruit trees for the next generation. We choose quality over convenience.
What This Means For Your Wealth
Understanding your own time preference is more than a thought experiment. It can guide how you approach:
Saving for retirement or education
Choosing between consumption and investment
Building a legacy versus living for today
At Sequoia Advisor Group, we help our clients align their resources with their highest values and longest horizons. Whether that means building intergenerational wealth or planning for a confident retirement, it starts with seeing time differently. It’s not just about how you spend your money, but how you spend your time.
Closing Thought
In Part 2, we’ll explore how time preference plays out in modern life—in our food, architecture, art, and financial systems. We'll also look at how cultivating a long-term mindset can be the key to navigating uncertain times.
The future may be uncertain, but how we approach it doesn't have to be. With wisdom, discipline, and purpose, we can shape a future that lasts—not just for ourselves, but for generations to come.
Footnotes:
1) Berry, Wendell. "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front." In The Country of Marriage, lines 26-29. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1973.
2) Roy Sebag, The Natural Order of Money (Goldmoney Publishing, 2022).
