Why do you want to be rich?
by irms
When circumstances change, we figure out answers to questions that weren’t relevant before. Women don’t buy men’s dress shirts, so they probably don’t know thier own neck size and sleeve-length. Mac users don’t do Windows Updates so they wouldn’t know how many reboots and extra space an XP PC (with no service packs) requires to be fully up-to-date (answer: usually 5 reboots, and roughly 250 MB of space). But a lady that receives a PC for her birthday and starts cross-dressing on the weekends gets familiar with that kind of information pretty quickly.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about my occupational circumstances.
I’m a nerd. I write code. I was a teacher for about a minute and a half. I’ve done tech support. I have launched huge systems for giant companies. I’ve lead teams. I’ve followed dumb directions. I’ve been the smartest person on the crew, and all alone feeling dumb. I’ve traveled a bit. I used to clean churches. I’ve served Italian food, and washed more than my share of dishes.
My whole life has been spent on a plane of “just barely enough, but no more than that”.
Let me be clear: I’m not complaining. Every fiber of my being is composed of the compulsion to achieve. That’s what I am. It’s what my parents made me. But now circumstances are changing. I’m good at what I do. I’m earning real money. I have flexibility in my life that didn’t exist before.
Seth Godin, in his post “Thinking about the compromise” writes:
If you sell crack to kindergarten students, no need to read this.
Same thing if you donate all your belongings and income to the poorest and sickest in the slums and ghettos.
The rest of us have compromised. We’re not profit-maximizing sociopaths, nor are we saints. We’re somewhere in between.
… …
Everyone is at their own level, but my impression is that most people sort of randomly end up somewhere on the greed/joy/work/good spectrum without really considering moving one way or the other.
These days, I have ideas about new things I could do. Ventures that are actually feasible, projects I am able to launch, and ways to make money doing things I feel I could be good at. The circumstances have changed and I have a new question to face:
Why?
‘Till now, I did most things out of necessity. But being in a position to do things because I want to means that, for the first time, I have to figure out why I would want to do them. It’s not a blind decision anymore, I’m making choices. I might end up rich. I could end up rich. Do I want to be rich? Why would I want to be rich? Are you? Can you tell me why?
Why do you want to be rich?
This is a real question. I think my life has always moved in the direction of ”let’s be in a position where we don’t have to struggle.” So what happens when you’re not struggling anymore? What happens when you you’re debt free, have a good job, and are able to contribute to the good of the world from time to time? By the way, I’m none of those things, but I imagine I will be soon. At least, that’s what I’m working toward now. And that begs the question: What do I work toward, next? Do I even want to have loads of money? And if so, why?
I’m interested in your answers. Please do write your thoughts in the comments.
[ Note ]
I’m not the only one asking this question. Both Get Rich Slowly, and I Will Teach You To Be Rich have good articles revolving the same question.
Very interesting post. Really made me think. I think you and I are in similar circumstances, and I’m finally in a position where I’m able to work on a project that I WANT to work on, which will hopefully lead to a healthy income. I think for me, starting a family is my next goal, so to have the money to support a family (wife, 2 – 3 kids) and not have to work 16 hours a day is what I’m striving to do. Do I need to be rich to do this, definitely not, but there is certainly a sense of peace when you know you’ve got your bills covered with some left over. I would also like to give my wife the opportunity to not have to work (should she choose not to). We are also a one car family (which actually works out just fine) but having another car would be a necessity when we have kids.
So all the reasons above are why I want to be in a better financial situation (that is to say I’m not complaining now, but your post does beg the question).
Good post Irms!
gg
.-= gg´s last blog ..Welcome To Pencil’em =-.
I grew up in a town where wages were low and house prices were high. As desireable as the area was to live in, the jobs couldn’t justify the residential purchase. So I had accepted I’d be living with my parents for some time. For the last 15 years I’ve been working on one day having enough money to eventually buy a place of my own. For three years now I’ve been renting in London and am constantly forbidding myself from summing the total spent in order to climb the career ladder. I accidentally figured out what this year will cost me and it made me sick. Just to rent. At the end I have no place to live and have helped pay off somebody’s mortgage. Food prices are rising, people are lobbying to increase alcohol prices to eradicate the drunken brit syndrome, travel is expensive. I’m sick of constantly watching my spending and planning events so that the cost is spread out and affordable.
However, like yourself I seem to have just stumbled into real money. The gambles I’ve taken now present me with an opportunity to cash in. Not in a major way, but enough for a possible lifestyle change down the line. The monkey reference I made a while back actually went in my favour. Possibly not directly, but apparently it didn’t hinder the interview enough to stop me getting the job. Tweaking my circumstances might take me 2 steps back, but I’ll be able to go 8 steps forward. What I want, after 15 years, is to have enough money to do what I want, when I want, without a second thought. I may never get there, but it’s a goal. People (rich ones probably, or lazy ones with none) say that money doesn’t buy happiness. But every decision I make is influenced by it. I want to find out what other problems there are out there besides financial ones. Health, obviously, but there you get what you’re given and can just hope for the best. Family, but you can’t do much about them either. You can’t buy time, but if you have SO much money that you don’t need to work, then you’ve just bought yourself 40 hours a week that nobody else can have. That’s when the fun starts. I’d probably be bored not working, but you’d have the option, again, to do what you want, when you want. I don’t want to be rich, I just want to have enough.
¨Having a huge bank account balance does not make you rich, knowing what currency to use and what to do with it does.¨ Written by Teresa Lopez-Solis
My definition of being rich is to be debt free, have the financial backing of several Revenue Sharing Obligation Bonds, and Gold/Silver Reserves so that I can stay at home with my three boys. Be able to support my community needs with out taking time away from my kids. I will have multiple corporations with qualified staff to make viable decisions with out my continuous input. (Living in the United State)
Yet for the time being, as I work to put some features into place I am living in Mexico. I live a life of luxury, I stay at home with my three boys, my monthly bills are paid off in full every month, our home is completely paid off, our car is paid off, and we buy groceries every month. I did have to borrow $150 this last month to do all this, but as I mentioned I live a life of Luxury, I did not say it was perfect. hehehehe
So my answer to the Question is YES, I want to be and am rich.
Simple answer. Yes.
Long answer. Yes, because then you can help others achieve their goals. At least in my opinion that is.
While I am rich with friends, family, and smarts, I lack the currency to get out of debt, to enjoy a night on the town, to do anything other than work 16 hour days. But all in all, I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s the desire and dream that when I get to the top, to help others reach the top as well… That way, when everyone is there… a new top will be found and we can all race to that.
Until then, keep living the good life, and moving forward!
What I’m reading here is that no one (Andy is the exception) really wants to be rich in the Donald Trump sense of the word. Can this be true?
It seems to me that our actions prove otherwise. It seems to me that if we all had motives that were altruistic, it would be more apparent, and the question would never need to be asked.
Am I wrong?
I want to be as rich as or richer than Warren Buffett. Trump doesn’t even aspire me to even try.
Why do I want to be this rich, I have a very large family and I would want them to be set up for life without the usual worries that come with just living on the day to day. Not to say that my family shouldn’t work or even attempt to gain this type of wealth on their own. I would just want to help them along the way. I don’t think I would quit working I would want to be able to do what I want when I want and would want my family to be able to do the same.
I never thought I would live long enough to see the 3rd generation of this family come to fruition but seeing that it has and know what we know now of the present state of the economy our children’s children will need all the help they can get.
My family is my very back bone, therefore whatever riches I would acquire along the way would be theirs, therefore to aspire to be anything less that Warren Buffett is not acceptable to me.
When you die, no one’s going to care how much money you had (unless of course you leave it to them!). They will care how you touched their life. They will remember the time spent with you, what they learned from you and the laughs you shared.
Your wealth lies in the hands of those you love.
(sounds corny, I know, but I’ve been on top of the world – bills paid, debt free, extra cash – and on the “bottom”. I am happier to live a more simple life. Honestly.)