Most of us apparently. We dream of winning the lottery or gambling our way to having millions in the bank. There is no doubt that lots of money is attractive. Having enough money to buy what you want, do what you want (whenever you want) sounds like a recipe for happiness and contentment. And to an extent its true.
But it’s important to remember that money doesn’t always bring you happiness. Happiness can often be achieved without any money being needed – being loved, loving, enjoying nature, a walk, a conversation, a lie-in.. all comes free of charge. And if you make some effort I am sure you can think of dozens of things you enjoy free of charge.
It’s also worth remembering that people may dream of being able to shower money on their family members after a lottery win, but they never go beyond that and think about the acrimony that might occur when people feel they have been unfairly treated or their disappointment when they expect more than their benefactor is willing or able to give.
It is true that money brings increased freedom?
There are lots of cases of unhappy lottery winners. There are plenty of lonely millionaires.
But how much would your version of freedom cost? Forget your current poor financial position for a moment (if you are in one) and imagine you had enough money to be free to do whatever you wanted. What would you be free to do?
I know people who’ve spent their whole careers dreaming about when they will have time to “play more golf in retirement”. Some of them never made it to retirement and some of them made it and found that two or three rounds of golf each week was more than enough for them – often too much of a good thing. Be careful what you wish for.
As Richard Branson has argued: you can only live in one house at a time, drive one car at a time and eat three meals a day. So besides the big house and the big-ticket car what else do you want money for in your life? And if you got at the big house have you thought about the maintenance? And how long will it be before the excitement of that £1.2m McLaren wears off? Quicker than you think.
Having enough money vs. freedom
When it comes to money and freedom most people are vague about two things. Firstly, they are not really clear about what they would really want to do if they were free to do whatever they wanted and secondly they don’t often know what it would cost to do it. In most cases people’s dream lives can be delivered for far less than a million. So make the effort to investigate the cost of your dreams. Your dreams might be easier to achieve than you think.
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