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From the article: > As the figure shows, the wealthy individuals are considerably happier than the high earners in the income group. Absolutely, 100%. Money h

From the article: > As the figure shows, the wealthy individuals are considerably happier than the high earners in the income group. Absolutely, 100%. Money has made me very happy. Once I saved up enough money from a high-paying job, I was able to quit and do whatever I liked. And I love every minute of it now. No 9-5, no wasting time doing things I don't want to do. The more money you have, the less you have to waste your precious finite time doing shit you don't want to do. Money allows you to pursue your hobbies, travel, and just have time to appreciate life. It does take less than people think. You just need enough to buy a cheap house in the middle of nowhere, an ability to give up some luxuries (big city life if you like that, new stuff all the time), and the intelligence to set up a few sources of relatively passive income and/or set up a way to make a little money from hobbies in a surfer-like part-time fashion.

rozenmd 2y ago
Thinking of doing this in the south-west of France. Decent houses (2-3 bedrooms, well insulated) go for around 300k (within an hour of a regional city like Toulouse).
marban 2y ago
Bonus: Not being recognizable or a celebrity.
- vouaobrasil 2y ago
  Yeah, and you definitely don't need celebrity-level money to stop working full-time and just do whatever if you really figure out what makes you happy and discard the rest.
kubb 2y ago
How much in terms of millions in today’s dollars? For how many years does it last? Family? I’m in my mid 30s and I’m wondering if I can escape.
- vouaobrasil 2y ago
  Well that depends completely on how ingenious you can become in setting up passive income sources and what resources you already have. Most people can do it and of course if you are married you need the support of your spouse. It just won't work if they have a very materialistic lifestyle and like fancy stuff for example. If you have kids, it's tricky but again not impossible. I've known some people that do it with kids so it can be done. But assuming that is true, what skills do you have? Can you relocate? What do you consider essential? Feel free to email me if you want with your situation if you want. My opinion is this: it is easier than you think but it requires some very unusual thinking and taking leaps of faith, and yes, it involves a little bit of what society might consider "risky" but less risky than people think. It requires a bit of discomfort but mostly of the mental kind. My belief though is that IF you are smart enough with your life, you can certainly escape.
  - number6 2y ago
    I'd like to hear more about your story - did you write it down somewhere? What were these risky takes and what did you do? I know these things aren't playbooks you can just run along, but I find these stories uplifting :)
- csomar 2y ago
  It depends where and how you want to "escape". A million dollars will go a long way if you are single and living in Thailand. Won't go much if you have a family in London.
anal_reactor 2y ago
[dead]
mapcars 2y ago
You just mixed up everything as did people in the article. Happiness is one thing, freedom of choice is another thing, comfort is a third thing, satisfaction is a fourth thing. These are all completely different things. Its rather simple to understand, whatever job you were "wasting" time on, if there is at least 1 human being on this planet who does this same job and is happy then problem is not in this job, problem is with you. If you have clear understanding of this you can do whatever job for any amount of hours and be happy. In fact I know thousands people working without being payed at all and they are way happier than highest income people you can imagine. Because they took time to learn how to keep themselves happy.
- vouaobrasil 2y ago
  > Its rather simple to understand, whatever job you were "wasting" time on, if there is at least 1 human being on this planet who does this same job and is happy then problem is not in this job, problem is with you. That makes no sense whatsoever and does not take into account preference. That's like saying "if there's at least one person that likes garlic ice cream, then you disliking it is just a frame of mind". Your logic is strange. What if I found one person who managed to obtain enlightenment from meditation and achieve happiness in a concentration camp. Would you then say that other people not being happy in a concentration camp is their problem because they couldn't do the same thing?
  - mapcars 2y ago
    > Would you then say that other people not being happy in a concentration camp is their problem because they couldn't do the same thing? Yes, absolutely. And of course I'm not saying that concentration camps are any good or anything like that. This logic may seem strange because in external situations what one person can do another can not do simply because of different capabilities. But when it comes to internal experiences, if you had even 1 moment of happiness in your life that means you are able to create that experience. You just didn't unravel the mechanics of it, but some people did and by my own experience I can confirm that its possible to have inner experience be whatever you want independent of the outside conditions.
liotier 2y ago
> It does take less than people think. You just need enough to buy a cheap house in the middle of nowhere, an ability to give up some luxuries ... Until you need any medical care. Also, good schools for the kids. And being with reach of people to connect with. Cities have huge value.
- vouaobrasil 2y ago
  Well, I am talking specifically about people who dislike cities, people who can't be happy 9-5. If you find cities a great value and having kids fulfilling, then obviously people who work "in the system" derive enough value from it to keep going in it. So, I wasn't referring to those types.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

rozenmd 2y ago

Thinking of doing this in the south-west of France. Decent houses (2-3 bedrooms, well insulated) go for around 300k (within an hour of a regional city like Toulouse).

marban 2y ago

Bonus: Not being recognizable or a celebrity.

vouaobrasil 2y ago
Yeah, and you definitely don't need celebrity-level money to stop working full-time and just do whatever if you really figure out what makes you happy and discard the rest.

kubb 2y ago

How much in terms of millions in today’s dollars? For how many years does it last? Family? I’m in my mid 30s and I’m wondering if I can escape.

vouaobrasil 2y ago
Well that depends completely on how ingenious you can become in setting up passive income sources and what resources you already have. Most people can do it and of course if you are married you need the support of your spouse. It just won't work if they have a very materialistic lifestyle and like fancy stuff for example. If you have kids, it's tricky but again not impossible. I've known some people that do it with kids so it can be done. But assuming that is true, what skills do you have? Can you relocate? What do you consider essential? Feel free to email me if you want with your situation if you want. My opinion is this: it is easier than you think but it requires some very unusual thinking and taking leaps of faith, and yes, it involves a little bit of what society might consider "risky" but less risky than people think. It requires a bit of discomfort but mostly of the mental kind. My belief though is that IF you are smart enough with your life, you can certainly escape.
- number6 2y ago
  I'd like to hear more about your story - did you write it down somewhere? What were these risky takes and what did you do? I know these things aren't playbooks you can just run along, but I find these stories uplifting :)
csomar 2y ago
It depends where and how you want to "escape". A million dollars will go a long way if you are single and living in Thailand. Won't go much if you have a family in London.

anal_reactor 2y ago

[dead]

mapcars 2y ago

You just mixed up everything as did people in the article. Happiness is one thing, freedom of choice is another thing, comfort is a third thing, satisfaction is a fourth thing. These are all completely different things. Its rather simple to understand, whatever job you were "wasting" time on, if there is at least 1 human being on this planet who does this same job and is happy then problem is not in this job, problem is with you. If you have clear understanding of this you can do whatever job for any amount of hours and be happy. In fact I know thousands people working without being payed at all and they are way happier than highest income people you can imagine. Because they took time to learn how to keep themselves happy.

vouaobrasil 2y ago
> Its rather simple to understand, whatever job you were "wasting" time on, if there is at least 1 human being on this planet who does this same job and is happy then problem is not in this job, problem is with you. That makes no sense whatsoever and does not take into account preference. That's like saying "if there's at least one person that likes garlic ice cream, then you disliking it is just a frame of mind". Your logic is strange. What if I found one person who managed to obtain enlightenment from meditation and achieve happiness in a concentration camp. Would you then say that other people not being happy in a concentration camp is their problem because they couldn't do the same thing?
- mapcars 2y ago
  > Would you then say that other people not being happy in a concentration camp is their problem because they couldn't do the same thing? Yes, absolutely. And of course I'm not saying that concentration camps are any good or anything like that. This logic may seem strange because in external situations what one person can do another can not do simply because of different capabilities. But when it comes to internal experiences, if you had even 1 moment of happiness in your life that means you are able to create that experience. You just didn't unravel the mechanics of it, but some people did and by my own experience I can confirm that its possible to have inner experience be whatever you want independent of the outside conditions.

liotier 2y ago

> It does take less than people think. You just need enough to buy a cheap house in the middle of nowhere, an ability to give up some luxuries ... Until you need any medical care. Also, good schools for the kids. And being with reach of people to connect with. Cities have huge value.

vouaobrasil 2y ago
Well, I am talking specifically about people who dislike cities, people who can't be happy 9-5. If you find cities a great value and having kids fulfilling, then obviously people who work "in the system" derive enough value from it to keep going in it. So, I wasn't referring to those types.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]