There is an exchange in the movie ‘The Princess Bride’ between Wesley and Buttercup where she says “You mock my pain” to which Wesley responds “Life is pain Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something”. Well I would paraphrase Wesley just a little and say “Money is a pain, anyone who says differently is selling something”.
Sometimes when there is significant money at stake, we take the easy way out from the guy who is selling something, instead of dealing with the pain. Examples:
When buying a new car it‘s easy to just do a trade in of the old one. How many people go to the trouble of at least finding out what they can get for it selling it themselves? In some cases the difference between trading it in and doing the sale can be thousands of dollars. But it’s a pain. Much easier just to do the trade in.
When buying or selling a piece of property, all the other parties are adversaries. The real estate agent, the mortgage company, the buyer or seller, they are all trying to take part of your stash. It’s a pain. But if you’re not aggressive about protecting your pile, if you don’t read the documents carefully, they will help themselves to lots of your money.
When big bucks are at stake, as Wesley warned us (sorta) money is a pain. But listening to the guy who is selling something in the long run will hurt more.