I'm not "rich", but for some perspective: both of my parents are immigrants. Dad never climbed the career ladder, nor learned much about finances in the US. He

I'm not "rich", but for some perspective: both of my parents are immigrants. Dad never climbed the career ladder, nor learned much about finances in the US. He likely makes the same amount of money as he did 30 years ago when adjusted for inflation. Mom went to night school for nursing while I was a kid, and makes decent money for this area. After doing a 4-year CS program, and working for a couple years, I crossed the six-figure mark and now make a decent salary for an average HN reader. I make more than twice of my father's salary, and much more than my mother's. I know I worked hard, but I know I didn't work as hard as my father or mother. If anything, I was reasonably intelligent and was lucky because I was internet savvy and knew enough to pick a career that was in demand. What I'm saying here is to dispel this weird idea that wealth is directly correlated with hard work or skill. I follow an artist and game developer from Brazil. He routinely blogs about his life, and live in a small (but nice) apartment. It's clear that I'm able to afford a much higher standard of living than he, but in the end, it's me who's envious of him for his skill in artistry and game development, meanwhile I'm here writing fucking CRUD apps for some tech startup that's injected with VC money and is able to pay their employees inflated salaries so they can live in Valley homes. What I'm getting at is what's probably no surprise to you -- it's easy to be envious of wealth and material possessions, but it's also easy to mistake wealth or self-worth. I'm kinda writing this in a rush, so my advice to you would be to read the Stoics, perhaps A Guide to the Good Life by Irvine, and for some lighter reading, try Fumio Sasaki's book on Japanese Minimalism.