That is mainly because you have let money become the end in itself in your life. If instead, you thought of it as the means to accomplish your other goals, you might realize that at a certain level of wealth, you don't need to think about what the stock markets are doing, or whether you have to pay a little more tax.How many of us could possibly achieve this, regardless of our pecuniary wherewithal? Were I magically a billionaire one hundred times over, or whatever is currently deemed to be a lavishly enormous amount, even then, this lilting sense of personal primacy would be absent, utterly absent. I'd worry about what the stock market might do tomorrow, and even if it rises, whether extra gains mean extra taxes.A post from that thread by user Brooks: Thu Apr 27, 2023 3:51 pm
"The highest form of wealth is the ability to wake up every morning and say, I can do whatever I want today. If there is a common denominator in happiness, a universal fuel of joy, it’s that people want to control their lives. The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money pays."
To do "whatever one wants" presupposes rightful and legitimate wants. If I want to, say, poison the village well... wouldn't that or similarly nasty things be contrary to the spirit of personal happiness? So even if we completely absolved ourselves of hangups over money, we would have to nurture in ourselves, proper and decent wants. Who has thoroughly done this?
We "only" have a mid seven figure portfolio, and absent severe long lasting bear markets, I am little concerned about the gyrations of the market because I realize even if our nestegg shrinks some, we can meet our spending desires, which is the goal, rather than the bigger pile. YMMV.
EDIT:
I do find it fascinating to hear the perspective of someone for whom amassing a bigger pile of money, with no other purpose than seeing it grow, is the ultimate goal. I don't mean to sound critical. It is just so foreign to me, I am still trying to wrap my head around it.
Statistics: Posted by marcopolo — Sun May 26, 2024 11:32 pm — Replies 30 — Views 2250