Decision #002
Edition 002
New Phone > Keep Current Phone
$900
Amount at stake
- The decision
- The upgrade offer arrived by text. My current phone works perfectly and is two years old.
- The pause
- I asked what would actually improve. Better camera on a phone I mostly use for email is not an improvement, it is a refresh.
- The ownership alternative
- The difference between an upgrade and a battery replacement was $820 — redirected into an index fund.
- What I did
- Replaced the battery for $80. Kept the phone. Moved the rest.
- The lesson
- Upgrades are sold as maintenance. Naming the real gap between want and need makes the number obvious.
If it stays owned
$900 left alone at a 7% average annual return. Illustrative only — not a projection or a promise.
5 years
$1,262
10 years
$1,770
20 years
$3,483
30 years
$6,851