Good Morning Dinks. Today we are discussing the financial fulfillment that we get out of life.
Different people strive for different things in life and we may all consider personal happiness to have a different meaning. The things in life that make me happy may not make you happy, and vice versa. My definition of rich may not be your definition of rich, and vice versa.
One of the main things that people want out of life is to be rich, but what does that really mean?
How much money will make you rich?
You have enough money to buy whatever you want. Some people may think that the definition of being rich is defined as having enough money to buy all of the things in life that you want to buy. If this is your definition of being rich it is obviously relative to your personal lifestyle. If you don’t want a lot of things in life then you won’t need a lot of money to buy all of those things.
You have a specific dollar amount. I remember when I was a child and I threw a penny into a Wishing Well I would always wish for $1 million. When I was a child I thought that having $1 million means that you are rich. But today a person who has $1 million may not be considered as being rich. Of course we have to consider the cost of inflation from 1980 to 2012, but $1 million is still a lot of money. I guess the question is if $1 million is enough money to make you rich.
You have personal freedom. Some people may think that being rich is having the freedom not to have to rely on money. You may be rich if you have the freedom to call in sick and miss a day of work because you don’t necessarily need the money. Personal freedom can mean that you aren’t dependant on money. Maybe your definition of being rich means that you can book a last minute vacation and travel whenever or wherever in the world that you want to travel.
You have more money than other people have. Unfortunately some people consider themselves to be rich if they have more money than other people have. For some reason people like to compare their personal net worth with the net worth’s of their family, friends, and co-workers. However if you consider being rich as a personal trait, it really shouldn’t matter how much money other people have (or don’t have).
You don’t live pay check to pay check. Some people consider being rich as having the personal peace of mind that they have a safety cushion of money in the bank. Some people feel that being rich is having enough money and savings to not have to worry about paying your bills, saving for retirement, and running out of money. For some people being rich means that they don’t have to live pay check to pay check. Some people think that being rich means they have no personal stress related to their personal finances.
Photo by digital money world
Kristina Tahnyak
Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.
For me, it’s a mixture. I would like to be able to have freedom and not worry as much, but also to be able to buy the things that I want.
Studies seem to indicate that an annual income of about 70,000 is enough for most people to feel well off.
I think it’s a mixture. I don’t care about anybody’s net worth. It’s nice to compare and it motivates me to save more :) but in the end it matters about what I have. I don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck, and I want to have the freedom to do whatever I want. If I want to pick up and live in South America for a year, then so be it. Until then, I know I have to build up my piggy bank.
I would never determine my richness based on what other people have, but unfortunately a lot of people do. I also think that being rich is a mixture of accumulating wealth (as personal satisfaction, not as a number) and having personal freedom.
Thanks for reading everyone.
Nice post – I’m bookmarking it.
My wife and I have a term for the second item on your list: Drop Dead Money – enough money to tell your bosses or customers to drop dead :)
That number is different for many people. Donald Trump has several hundred million and it’s not enough for him. Us, not so much.
But each one of us, whether we articulate it or not, is working for Drop Dead Money – isn’t that our ultimate financial goal?