What does it mean to make tons of money if you don't get the time to spend it, take vacations, relax... One of the reason why I trade is that you can live everywhere... I seriuosly want to see every place in the world through trading... A guy with 50m$ that never goes out of his tiny world is pretty lame...
Lots of really rich people I know (here Europe, USA, Japan, etc.) don't travel, don't have good relationships with people, have pretty limited lives. Trading/investing should be one of many pursuits/ interests. "All things in moderation"
I would like to use two pieces of wisdom, one from the Far East and one from the pre-war US. These two should answer the thread's topic. --If in achieving something, there is a struggle, then the battle is lost from the start-- (some chinese saying) --We are reaching for the stars, and even if we might not grab one, at least our feet are not on the ground-- (leo burnett) in my opinion, you should push ever higher, without getting the sense that you are battling something, or "working hard". things need to come naturally.
and last but not least, i consider money as being a value of myself, of my performance, and i feel it's not really of any practical use outside my needs and a few spoils, i consider giving away at least half of my wins on a regular basis. i am not kidding. i am for equality and since i have been given a chance in life, i want to also take part in giving a chance to others.
In other words... "Better to reach for the stars and fall short than to aim for a cow pie and hit dead center"... Art Williams
There's a wonderful book by the science fiction writer Robert Silverberg called Kingdoms of the Wall which I bought for my kids. Like most Silverberg, it appeals to adolescent/young adult age groups (IMHO). It is a retelling of the prometheus myth somewhat. A quick synopsis (with spoiler) is that a medieval society lives at the base of a everest-like mountain range (the wall). There are rumors of gods living at the top of the wall, but no person who has ever made the pilgrimage returns. A young man heads out, arduously climbs the wall, and sees wonders caused by DNA-altering gases and radiation which cause people to suffer different fates along the way. Some are base (turned into mindless hulks), some are quite pleasant (his father living in an eden like paradise); generally the higher you get the better it gets with some exceptions. He finally reaches the top, and discovers a terrible truth - the gods are degenerated human troglodytes, remnants of a crash-landed space exploration. Some went down the mountain, some stayed behind... Point of the story is that in climbing the wall (life) we all decide where we want to stop depending on the difficulty of the journey. Perhaps we can stop in a relative eden (decamillionaire with interest/investment income for life, great family, etc..) or a place of terror (heroin addiction). But to reach the absolute top is to perhaps be faced with the terrible knowledge of the truth of things. It may not be something to be envied. I have been acquainted with a few such people in my life - who have subsequently gone on to levels of success that really would just boggle the mind. I chose a different path - my personal choice, not good/bad, just different. But I would like to ask them after the intervening years: are you happy? Was it worth it? And did the knowledge you sought set you free or simply enslave you in the process? I haven't decided if I am going to be downshifting again in the future. Right now, I'll continue to do what I do and make hay while the sun shines, because it sure feels like evening and I have no idea how long the night is going to last. 'Nuff with the philosophy. Carry on.
And did the knowledge you sought set you free or simply enslave you in the process? --------------------------- This is one of my favorite questions. Depends on attitude? Sometimes we just have to take off our "hat of knowledge" and be a kid, enjoy things for what they are, confident and secure in what we know yet be free in spirit and to know when to use the knowledge and when to be idle.
I would be happy at 'independence level 1' which would be around $2million net worth for me (assuming that a sustainable income of at least $400K/yr is possible on $2million). Money above that level would let me buy more toys (or give more away) but otherwise I don't think it would generate significantly more happiness.