[Ads-l] Quote Origin: I'm not so much worried about the return ON my money; what bothers me is the return OF my money (Attributed to Will Rogers)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Financial reporter Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal asked me to
trace the quip in the subject line. The quip is a member of a family
of statements using wordplay. Here are three instances:

(1) I learned to worry about the return of my money instead of the
return on my money

(2) I'm not so much interested in the return on my principal as I am
in the return of my principal.

(3) I am not as concerned about the return on my investment as about
the return of my investment.

The wordplay consists of repeating a template phrase while swapping
the prepositions "of" and "on". Instances of this quip have been
attributed to humorist Will Rogers, comedian Eddie Cantor, and
statesman Benjamin Franklin.

The phrasing of these statements is highly variable; hence, this
family is difficult to trace. The earliest instance of this core
wordplay I found appeared in April 1920 in "The New York Times" within
an advertisement for Prudence Bonds:

[Begin excerpt]
Of course, you can get a bigger return on your money, provided you
accept a reduction in security.

But please bear this in mind:
When we talk of the 100% soundness of Prudence-Bonds, we have in mind,
not only the return on your money, but the return of your money.
[End excerpt]

Apparently, an anonymous copywriter crafted this wordplay. Citations
in the full QI article indicate that the popular entertainer Eddie
Cantor used the same wordplay in 1933 and 1934. Cantor's formulation
placed more emphasis on wistful humor.

Will Rogers died in 1935. He posthumously received credit for a
version of this quip by 1938 within a real estate advertisement.
Overall, I believe that the evidence linking Rogers to the quip is
quite weak.

Benjamin Franklin died in 1790. He implausibly received credit for a
version of this quip by 1966 within a financial advertisement.

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/06/27/return-money/

Feedback and illuminating citations would be welcome.
Garson O'Toole
QuoteInvestigator.com

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