4 ms·

The piece of insight that I think was missing from the post is this: If you can get to $10 million and still not feel secure, there's something very wrong with

The piece of insight that I think was missing from the post is this: If you can get to $10 million and still not feel secure, there's something very wrong with the way you are living your life. $10 million, with a 1% annual return on investment will give you an income of $100,000. There are people earning far, far less than that who are doing just fine in terms of security / contentedness. At a certain point, you have to cut back on your idea of how much money your should have. Your income will always be limited by the world you live in, but your idea of how much you should have isn't so firmly held back by reality. If you always feel like you should have more, then you will always feel like you should have more, no matter how many billions you acquire. He almost gets there, but he closes by saying he didn't appreciate money enough. That wasn't the problem. I wonder what stops him from connecting the dots.

joshu 16y ago
There is a big desire to pursue better returns, which means you need much more stomach for drops. Sounds like he didn't have enough purse forth risk profile he wanted to adopt. Nothing wrong with that but it is certainly possible to take a middle ground.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
michaelochurch 16y ago
Money has a sort of Maslovian pyramid: Survival, Leisure, Comfort, Status, then Power. Most middle-class Americans are in the second level (Leisure) while the Koch brothers' ambitions exemplify the fifth (Power). Most upper-class people are in the fourth (Status). A lot of people think they'll "get off" at the Comfort level, but few people do. The Survival level is met when one's basic needs are met. This doesn't mean the risk of insulting inconveniences (such as having to move under adverse conditions) go away, but one isn't at risk of starvation or homelessness once it is achieved. Leisure is the level of most middle-class people: buying TVs, going on longer and nicer vacations. Comfort is having cleaning services and getting to fly business or first class when traveling: essentially having a life with as few annoyances as possible. Most normal, man-on-the-street types will admit they want to be rich enough to max out the Comfort level, while frowning upon those who care about Status and Power. The problem is that one doesn't max out the Comfort level until over $500,000 per year. Most people think they'd be happy to "get off" at that point, but it's really hard to keep that kind of income, steadily, unless either (1) you have $30 million net worth or so, and most people at that point feel like they're entitled to more than a lower-upper-income lifestyle, or (2) more commonly, you get some sort of job paying that much income. You simply don't get the latter unless you convince people that you're "special". This is what draws rich people into the idiotic status obsessions-- the need to socially climb in order to continually prove themselves to be worth those kinds of salaries and favors-- and that game is pretty much never-ending. It's gambling: spending money in ways that seem ludicrous on high-end art, real estate, club memberships, and alcoholic beverages simply because they are exclusive and expensive in the hope of improving one's social status and, therefore, future income. As with any gamble, some people lose everything. Rich people are no exception.
- rskar 16y ago
  Up-voting this because I learned about the Maslovian pyramid; and otherwise it has a ring of truth. Thanks for an idea to think about!
jaltucher 16y ago
Just out of curiousity: why do you think that was missing from the post? I thought it was very much there by the end.

joshu 16y ago

There is a big desire to pursue better returns, which means you need much more stomach for drops. Sounds like he didn't have enough purse forth risk profile he wanted to adopt. Nothing wrong with that but it is certainly possible to take a middle ground.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

michaelochurch 16y ago

Money has a sort of Maslovian pyramid: Survival, Leisure, Comfort, Status, then Power. Most middle-class Americans are in the second level (Leisure) while the Koch brothers' ambitions exemplify the fifth (Power). Most upper-class people are in the fourth (Status). A lot of people think they'll "get off" at the Comfort level, but few people do. The Survival level is met when one's basic needs are met. This doesn't mean the risk of insulting inconveniences (such as having to move under adverse conditions) go away, but one isn't at risk of starvation or homelessness once it is achieved. Leisure is the level of most middle-class people: buying TVs, going on longer and nicer vacations. Comfort is having cleaning services and getting to fly business or first class when traveling: essentially having a life with as few annoyances as possible. Most normal, man-on-the-street types will admit they want to be rich enough to max out the Comfort level, while frowning upon those who care about Status and Power. The problem is that one doesn't max out the Comfort level until over $500,000 per year. Most people think they'd be happy to "get off" at that point, but it's really hard to keep that kind of income, steadily, unless either (1) you have $30 million net worth or so, and most people at that point feel like they're entitled to more than a lower-upper-income lifestyle, or (2) more commonly, you get some sort of job paying that much income. You simply don't get the latter unless you convince people that you're "special". This is what draws rich people into the idiotic status obsessions-- the need to socially climb in order to continually prove themselves to be worth those kinds of salaries and favors-- and that game is pretty much never-ending. It's gambling: spending money in ways that seem ludicrous on high-end art, real estate, club memberships, and alcoholic beverages simply because they are exclusive and expensive in the hope of improving one's social status and, therefore, future income. As with any gamble, some people lose everything. Rich people are no exception.

rskar 16y ago
Up-voting this because I learned about the Maslovian pyramid; and otherwise it has a ring of truth. Thanks for an idea to think about!

jaltucher 16y ago

Just out of curiousity: why do you think that was missing from the post? I thought it was very much there by the end.