If having more money makes your life worse, I have to think you're doing something wrong.
I tried on a watch that cost $39,000 this morning. Owning this would make me pretty happy (FTR-this not the same watch I posted about a couple months ago, they sold that one, and it had Roman numeral markers). Same model though. I also tried on one with a retail price of over $48,000. It was a rose gold Sky Dweller.
I tried on a watch that cost $39,000 this morning. Owning this would make me pretty happy (FTR-this not the same watch I posted about a couple months ago, they sold that one, and it had Roman numeral markers). Same model though. I also tried on one with a retail price of over $48,000. It was a rose gold Sky Dweller.
Just because you don't want to part with something doesn't mean it brings happiness. I don't stare at the light bulbs in my house and think "These make me so darn happy" but I certainly wouldn't want to part with them either. There is a lot to be said for utility and replacement value
Electricity does indeed bring me happiness. I remember that whenever there's a power outage. *sips coffee made with electricity*
Well I was referring to the bulbs themselves which could easily be replaced (even more temporarily with candles) but that doesn't mean I'd want to part with them. I would agree that electricity overall is pretty important to my life
Looks scratched up. For $39K, I'd expect the dealer to spray it down with polyurethane to hide the scratches.
It's not about having stuff, it's about having financial security and the ability to pursue hobbies and interests instead of working all your life.
I mean to say the only people who SAY it are poor people.
I was being somewhat facetious. Obviously someone going through a divorce or someone who is working all the time and not spending time with their family could be miserable regardless of how much money they have.Disagree COMPLETELY. I know quite a few very well of friends/acquaintances/colleagues who are the people who say this.
Example One: a good friend from Germany who lives in an amazing house south of Stuttgart, drives a litany of fantastic cars (MB, Porsche, etc). Has a ridiculously nice condo up in St. Moritz. Married a beautiful American girl. Has a low stress job that he loves and plenty of time.
He’s miserable. He is going through a terrible divorce. He constantly thinks some new car is going to make him happier even though the last few did nothing but add a fleeting level of happiness. He hasn’t learned from his current marriage dilemma and continues to chase women who are impressed by his wealth.
Example two: a good friend from Switzerland who has built a consulting company that has made him a very high earner. He owns several properties, a number of cars (including a tuned 911 turbo that is just scary), yet he is rarely truly happy when I talk to him. He can’t keep a steady girlfriend because of the hours he works/travels. Ever since I’ve known the guy (10+ years), he has wanted kids and that hasn’t been happening. He also loves his parents/siblings...but barely gets to see them. He joked about building a hose next to his parents to try and see them more often...but then concedes that he still wouldn’t see them due to his schedule. That turbo Porsche really just ends up being a screen saver on his work laptop and his G-Wagin really just sits at the airport half of its life. He constantly complains how unhealthy he is.
Example Three: a good friend that makes 500k+ a year. He has three kids and a loving wife. He does own a couple million worth of investment properties (none of that is included in his income above), but he lives in a 3 bdrm duplex in a less than ideal neighborhood. He has a couple of expensive mountain bikes, but he drives a 1995 Toyota Corolla that he bought from his Aunt 10+ years ago when his uncle died. His wife drives a Toyota Highlander that he only bought to keep the kids relatively safe...but only after getting a deal on a used one with hail damage. He continues to work at making his business run without him to spend more time with family/friends. He regularly goes on trips to 3rd world countries to try and help build infrastructure for less fortunate. On Valentine’s Day, he makes a lot of homemade valentines cards with his 7 year old daughter...and then walk the city streets nearby giving them out to homeless people along with McDonalds gift cards. The dude is very happy.
Example four: good friend who just started a van trip with his wife and two small kids that will last ~2yrs traveling the US. This is the second time they have done this...about 5 years ago they did something very similar with an old SUV driving around South America for a year. Before and in between, they worked reasonably and lived very frugally investing as much as possible. They are now in the position to retire early (34) and live relatively passively off of their investments (their real estate investments are not 100% passive). When they are done with their trip, they will reclaim one of their duplexes and maybe start a new venture and do some volunteer work.
The second two friends are WAY more happy than my first two friends above. In both cases it has to do with making the right choices with how to use their wealth to have more freedom of time...and then choosing wisely with that time. It is never because of the things they have.
It's mental and physical freedom that makes you happy. And having money gives you that freedom. So money does buy happiness. And the dollar amount to buy that freedom differs for everyone. And that's where the confusion comes in.
I like watches, but that does nothing for me. My uncle has something similar, and it's definitely a high end product, but I tend to like more modern designs. Of course, I'd never pay $39,000 for a watch unless I had hundreds of millions of dollars, which I do not, so I guess I'm not the target demographic there.
I was being somewhat facetious. Obviously someone going through a divorce or someone who is working all the time and not spending time with their family could be miserable regardless of how much money they have.
But I bet if you took 2 people who all things aside from financial situations were equal from a personal/psychological standpoint, that the one with more money who could do more stuff and buy more stuff would be enjoying his life more.
Somewhat agree. So my first friend example... the “American girl” that he married is actually a friend of mine who I knew from college and is actually how I know him. When I knew her in college and afterwards, she was a very happy person. She wasn’t poor, but she wasn’t rich either. She was a cute girl who got plenty of attention...but also had to work pretty hard and still lived pretty frugally (was driving a hand me down pickup from her father until her late 20’s). Really a girl next door type. Then she meets my German friend (who was working in the US at the time). Next thing you know, she is driving an MB, living in a high rise apartment with him, going on a lot of nice holidays, and spending ridiculous amounts of money on clothes. Sure she was happy for those first few years...but slowly it turned sour. Buying more clothes or redoing more of their house didn’t bring the same high that it used to. Those lavish vacations became less special. Their condo in St Moritz just routine. He had a fur coat handmade for her so that she could wear it to the horse races in St Moritz and she just complained that she didn’t like the color. She stopped working and lost any focus. Started drinking more and more. Now they are getting divorced and both are miserable.
Anyone who hasn’t been part of this would wonder how that could happen. They seemed to “have everything”. Relatively speaking, they did have everything money could buy...even had a lot of superficial things that money can’t buy (both are good looking with decent personalities)... but clearly this didn’t help. Actually in the case of the wife...money seemed to lead her down the wrong path...a path I would never have seen her going down when I knew her in college/immediately after. It wasn’t until she had money and the transformation it enabled that she became outwardly unhappy.
I waded through four pages of bullshit before someone finally said what money can truly buy you.This.
I’m not rich, but I’m financially secure. What does this give me? More time.
When I was in my 20’s, I worked a lot. I don’t necessarily regret it as it set me up where I am now...but if it taught me anything, it was that time was the greatest luxury. Money allows you a certain amount of choice on what you do with your time. Some people with money choose poorly with that freedom and end up being unhappy. Some people use that freedom well, and end up being happy.
What has it given me:
- A lot of time with my kids (I have 3 kids under the age of 4...this time is precious to me)
- more time with my wife (going on vacations with her, taking her on date nights, going Mtn biking or skiing with her, etc)
- more time on myself (lots of Mtn biking, snowboarding, running, wood working, programming, etc)
- more time investing in my friends and community
Sure money can buy nice things as well, but in my experience, they are way less likely to bring you happiness. Don’t get me wrong, I love riding my Mtn bike, driving my car, riding my snowboard, staying at our mountain condo, living in our neighborhood, using our phones/computers, etc...but they bring it way less happiness than freedom of time. The 15 minutes I spent putting my twins down for bed last night were way more important than what car I drove in to work this morning.