How Much Money Is Enough for you?

How much money is enough for you?

Albert Einstein took out a piece of paper and wrote these words…

“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.”

Albert Einstein was arguably one of the most intelligent people to grace this planet (IMHO),  he experienced a huge amount of fame & fortune, including winning the Noble peace prize. He amassed over 1 million USD in his lifetime (which was a lot back then)…12 million since his death.

Yet he believes a ‘modest’ life ‘brings more happiness than pursuing success’…

If we look at the definition of ‘Modest,’ it means ‘relatively moderate, limited, or small.’

I’ve been reflecting on this statement all week, and I can say I completely agree with him. This is completely contrary to everything else I’m seeing and hearing around me.

The Number One regret from people on their Death beds… 

Palliative care nurses say that their patients who have a few days to live often share their biggest regret, that they wish .. ‘They hadn’t worked so hard.’

I’m sure they didn’t intend to work so hard!… But yet somehow they did… somehow they ‘missed it.’

But why?!

Let’s be honest, to get a better life… To get just a ‘little bit more’ so that ‘one day’ they could have more time with the people that matter most and enjoy the good life.

How much is enough?

Most people fail to determine how much money is enough for them because of the American Dream. (I’m guilty of it!)

How easy is to be distracted with the ‘when I get this’ mentality, then I’ll be happy.

Success is celebrated with awards, status and often measured by how big your car/house is.

You rarely hear conversations like this…

‘She’s hugely successful.’…

‘What does she do?’

‘She’s a stay at home mum.’

Will the Mum have regrets on her death bed? (Doubt it.)

What about the high flying tech startup CEO Boss lady whose nanny raises her kids? (Questionable)

Why we need to determine how much is enough..

1. To avoid Excessive Stress– A lot of the population live in a constant state of high stress. I believe this is because when we’re not clear about about how much money we need we remain on the treadmill. (Knackered)
2. To curb Worry and Anxiety- The more we work, the more responsibility we have, the more load we carry, the more worry and anxiety we get lumbered with. This will ultimately affect our quality of life, sleep, sex drive etc.
3. To shoot down Discontentment-AKA ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ When we fail to define how much is enough for us, it’s easy to muddle up ‘need’ and ‘want.’ It’s easy to follow what other people are doing and get trapped in getting the next ‘thing.’

My Learning…

When starting work as a Financial Adviser at 19, I wanted a £30,000 salary, a year later I  achieved it. So I set a new income goal of £50,000.  Once I hit that, I made a bigger goal!

I wanted an income of 100kpa before 25…

I hit that goal…

so I set other loftier financial goals such as buying my first property, then buying a second property…

Then 10kpm passive income in 18 months so I could be with my son, (Where 10k from I don’t know, didn’t need that much) but when I hit that?

Enter the 1 million pound house!

When I achieved that…I was Not much Happier.

Waking up

I had money,  a multi-million-pound portfolio but found my happiness didn’t greatly improve. Soon after our second kid, I realised something needed to change. I wanted a simpler existence. To slow down and enjoy the life we had built.

It’s not saying it’s bad to be ambitious and want more, all I’m saying is that when you get to your goal, take the time to be the person you dreamt of being when you were just starting out.

Because if we aren’t first content with what we have now, we will never be content when we achieve our Big goals

Sure owning a large portfolio and making lots of money is great, I’m very grateful to have built a multi-million-pound portfolio but this is not the thing that has made me happy, or my life more contented.

When we focus on simplifying and being content with what you have right now. We’ll be positioning ourself for a life of great fulfilment.

So How to figure out how much is enough

Before you read my next post, work out how much money you actually need now annually.

YOUR MONTHLY EXPENSES X 12…(Don’t add more in!)

We’ll need that to determine your Freedom number in my next post.