Life is all about money, if you think money means very little you're delusional

Life is all about learning to give up everything and quit caring about earthly concerns.

Make a ton of money? You’ll never have enough.

Buy a ton of fancy stuff? It’ll only make you feel more empty.

Out pace all your friends and family? You’ll only feel more burden and loneliness.

Give your kids a luxurious life? They’ll just turn out to be spoiled brats who you destainfully love.

Invent, create, build something great? You’ll see it turn to crap before you die or you’ll curse the next generation with worshiping and polishing your poop.

Run sub 2:12, 2:20, 2:30, 2:45, 3? The endorphins wear off in seconds and then the pain sets in, the accomplishment wears off in days, weeks, or months and the new emptiness sets in.

Don’t get married! Don’t have kids! Spend as much of your time learning to learn. Teaching. Doing charity with healthy children and unhealthy old people. Then realize they both facing death, just on different timelines.

life is about community, about doing things together, making sure everyone is taken care of.

I think too many people are missing the boat here. The most important thing is one's health. Without good health life is much harder. I am 72 , closer now to 73. I never was rich. Being a teacher and a coach in a region of the country where teacher-coaches are decently rewarded I have always been able to do what I wanted. Then again I never acquired what I couldn't afford. I have never paid a credit card company interest! Lately I have had some health problems: surgery, a number of days in a hospital (first time since about 1951 when I had my tonsils taken out), and some problems that haven't gone away yet. I have been told that they eventually will disappear, but I'm not betting the ranch on it. Having had wonderful health for so many decades I had never thought about it until the past few months. All the money in the world will not solve some health issues. Health is number 1.

Agreed. And money will only have increasing importance in the future, as the world will be increasingly crowded and resources increasingly scarce. Plus it is going to be really hot.

Having some money allows you more control over your life. It allows you to take risks and it does allow you to travel and experience more of what the world has to offer.

I think the love of money (greed) is obviously a terrible character flaw, but it's better to have money than to not. Money allows you to

retire early

travel

better healthcare

time to take care of yourself (you don't see many poor or working poor at road races or cycling on the weekends.)

better education for yourself and your children

safety

better absorb any one of the bad things that life can send you like a car accident, natural disaster, untimely death of a relative.

It give you peace of mind. Imagine worrying every day that your water will be cut off that the electricity bill is over due, that you really are unable to afford life's most basic necessities. The stress would be unreal.

So all things being equal, it's better to have money than to not.

This thread made me think of an old classic from the 80s:

"Money is the key to end all your woes

Your ups, your downs, your highs and your lows

Won't you tell me the last time that love bought you clothes?

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

No, the OP claims that money is needed to enjoy life. I already enjoy life and I am not rich. Your logic doesn't hold water. You could argue that money might enhance life, but it is not the key to happiness. Not by a long shot.

Craig88 wrote:

The only reason you can truly smile is because you are financially secure...poor people can try to tell you "money doesnt equal happiness", but in reality it is them that are constantly crying, fighting, arguing, their life is a huge struggle, while the rich people just cruise along and feel good.

If you have money, you have life.

The rich people jusr cruise along and feel good?

Wut.

Wot?

Rich people routinely have suicides, depression, anxiety, overwork themselves, etc. Rich people don't just 'cruise along and feel good'

That said, research shows that money does tend to correlate well with happiness up until about a certain level (which I believe is around 75k for a single person household), beyond that point money correlates very little with happiness.

And yes, security is important and makes a huge difference for most people. That goes almost without saying that "money matters and makes a significant difference, all other factors equal". And yes, it's hard to be happy without being secure. But you don't need ridiculous amounts of money for that point. Give me a choice between working 30 hours a week for 60-70k a year, 40 hours a week for 150k/yr, and 60 hours a week for 2 mil/yr....and I'd take the 30 hours a week every single time without any hesitation.

Precious Roy wrote:

Everyone I know who is "comfortable" financially spends way too much time working. They hardly know their kids and end up having affairs because they never spend any quality time with their spouses. All of their "friendships" are very transactional. They go have drinks with so and so because he is high up at Dynacorp and might bring in some business. Even charity giving is transactional. They want to get on the board of the charity so they can get to know higher ups at other big companies. And they NEVER have enough and are never satisfied. If they have a Porsche 911, they spend all day trying to get a 911 GT RS. If they have a 50 ft Beneteau sail boat, they can't wait to upgrade to a Jamadhar 98' catamaran.

I tend to agree with this. Very few people (ok, only one) I know make a lot of money and work 40hrs a week or less. When I look at the income I once aspired to having, people I know and talk to who make that much are putting in 70hrs a week.. sending emails at 3am on Sunday, working most nights after dinner, long hours in the office etc. If you look at the hours worked, it's barely more dollars/hr than what I am at. So yeah, not worth it.

UA Runner wrote:

Very few people (ok, only one) I know make a lot of money and work 40hrs a week or less.

He considers his "executive time" as work, whether he is watching Fox News, tweeting or practicing his golf swings.

So he definitely works moe than 40hr/wk by his standard.

I'm worth a butt-load and work 40 hrs/week in general, spend my whole life outside of work with my family, and am quite happy. So i don't fit your stereotype.

How?

I have a middle manager position and while many of my compatriots work upwards of 60 hrs/week, i set the ceiling at 5 eight hour days each week. Made a lot by saving max allowed plus some, invested it wisely for many years, and have something of a hobby with the stock market. I don't live extravagantly and I can ensure you that no one except my wife knows we are anything except of average means. My teenage child even has absolutely no idea. Frankly, it's kind of funny. Oh, and these assets were made by us and from there, through investing and saving wisely, not family money. I was born of below average means.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

[quote

Trump is a good example of a rich guy that seems to be pretty miserable.

You do know that he donates his salary.

Making America Great Again.

anobserveroftheboards wrote:

life is about community, about doing things together, making sure everyone is taken care of.

I really would like a pair of them 4%

* Americans exaggerate how many hours they work. Those high earners who say they work 100 hrs per week usually work 50 or 60 when you exclude commute, 2-hr lunches, flirting with Courtney the admin assistant, etc.

* There are many careers that offer good pay and low work. Most of them are in government. For example, firefighters only work 2 days per week, have deluxe benefits, and often make six figures or more (Yet I hear AOC say that we need to tax the private sector more to pay firefighters more lol).

* Job security/stability is a very important factor in quality of life. Back to the example of firefighters, they don't have to worry about layoffs, reorgs, performance reviews, today's stock price, needing to keep their skills up to date to not be replaced by recent college grads, etc.

* When acquaintances all make good money, it usually leads to more amicable relations between them. For example, 2 of them are at a restaurant and 1 forgot their wallet, the 1 who pays isn't concerned about getting paid back. I remember when I was broke in college and I stopped hanging out with friends who owed me $100 or more because I was very resentful.