These people discuss having $5M or $10M before you can relax and feel you have "f u money" I encourage everyone to read through the blog of this fellow, Mr Mon

These people discuss having $5M or $10M before you can relax and feel you have "f u money" I encourage everyone to read through the blog of this fellow, Mr Money Mustache, which I discovered many years ago. Early Retirement through Badassity. It's not just about having enough money for all your wants. It's about reducing your wants to just your needs. https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/ Another great book about it is the Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. Stoicism is like the Western Buddhism, and probably developed around the same time. Basically, learn to separate your wants from your needs, and make sure your needs are covered several times over. It's not black and white -- we as a society come to expect more and more, but previous generations did not all have their own house, they didn't even have clean water running to their house. I would say needs is whatever can maintain you in optimal health, and everything that supports that. Everything else is more and more optional, and you can practice (like going to the gym) denying yourself gratification in those things. It is also why orthodox Jews, and the Amish, and others, have lifestyles where their health and emotional well-being is often independent of how much stuff they have. In the US, unfortunately, we have an opiate epidemic, a quarter of middle-aged women are on antidepressants, the kids are overmedicated with ADHD, and the elderly in the old folks home are on all sorts of things. All so our society could have a "good economy", specialization, all young adults can live in their large air conditioned apartments alone, etc. This is extremely different than most traditional societies around the world, where families live together, children are watched by grandparents and respect their elders etc. and there is quite a lot of collectivism and people aren't "spoiled" by individualism and wealth. And also perhaps consider that this stoicism is not just for money, but also for sexual gratification and attraction to one's partner, as well. Easier said than done, but just like waiting to have $5M to be truly able to relax and be happy, maybe waiting for the most attractive and compatible person to come along to start a family, is something society has been telling us to do. As for me, I couldn't become a stoic in this department LOL, so I appreciate any insights.