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I suppose it depends on a person. I am pretty sure the more money I have started to make throughout my life the happier I have become. Simply because of having

I suppose it depends on a person. I am pretty sure the more money I have started to make throughout my life the happier I have become. Simply because of having more freedom over how I spend my time. I feel like there is almost infinite amount of things to do in this World, I just wish I was able to 24/7 do those things. I don't have enough to not work for rest of my life, but I have been able to buy my own apartment, house, which has given me a lot of confidence in my self and feelings of freedom. I started out with no connections or education though. I am sure it can be different for everyone, people see the World differently.

jjeaff 2y ago
I think that is most people's experience but it only works up to a point. you will get diminishing returns the more money you have until, in some cases, maybe negative returns.
- mewpmewp2 2y ago
  Probably diminishing returns, but sometimes I think there is also selection bias, with ultra rich getting there because of never ending satisfaction, so it is contingent on the type of the human. Satisified person would stop sooner while never satisfied would naturally become the richest.
david-gpu 2y ago
All that sounds sadly familiar. Once you cross the threshold of not having to work for a living, the illusion fades away. You are still you, your problems are still there, you are still bound to a slowly decaying body, there's no GAME OVER banner and credit roll proving that you have won the game of life. Because you haven't. Hah. You can of course keep yourself entertained with all sorts of stupid stuff that doesn't actually matter. Or you can accept that there are still only a handful of things that bring people contentment, and you don't need to be financially independent to do any of them. I'm talking about bland obvious stuff like spending some time with loved ones (including pets and plants), going out for a walk in the park, etc. Unsurprisingly, a ton of retirees do just that. It's not because they are old and can't do anything else, it's because they have finally figured out what works. And it's not like doing five times as much of that stuff is going to make you five times happier, either. Anybody with a full time job can carve out some quality time instead of arguing with strangers online.
- naming_the_user 2y ago
  It's also the case that having enough money not to work makes it very simple to engage in self destructive behaviour. If you have a 9 to 5 then you're waking up at sunrise and going to bed some time after sunset. You're probably commuting, getting out in the world, chatting to people even if it's just the colleagues, Starbucks drive through, supermarket checkout clerk, that sort of thing. If you have retirement level money and you're alone there is absolutely nothing stopping you from waking up at 2pm, sitting on your computer playing World of Warcraft ordering takeaways, not going out for a walk or seeing the sunlight, getting slightly more depressed each day in a spiral. There's also nothing stopping you from going out drinking every day or every other of the week, shrugging off the hangover then hitting the next one. And so on and so forth. People easily underestimate how much their sense of well-being is related to simple things like just going for a walk in the sunshine every now and then or eating properly.
  - david-gpu 2y ago
    Yeah, that all hits close to home. I find that having a daily schedule and trying to stick to it helps. Also, going for small quality of life improvements, trying things out to see what works and what doesn't, such as a different pillow, or replacing some foods with alternatives. Having free time forces you to deal with all the emotional baggage you have accumulated over the years and it's a bit much, too. I was obsessed with saving money so that my family wouldn't struggle if I became unable to work; as a result, I didn't process the reasons why I had that fear in the first place. My dad became severely disabled when I was in college and it was a very traumatic experience for my family.
  - saagarjha 2y ago
    Ouch, that hurt. And I'm not even financially independent!
  - mewpmewp2 2y ago
    I have had multiple different life routines. Healthy fit, alcoholic, depression and self pity, video games no life, productivity hacking self help guru following, career climbing, start up attempting. Considering having been through all of these and knowing how each of them feel, I would hope I have enough experience and urge to opt for the healthy fit as baseline. I think it is still much easier to go for it having no work stress in life.
tasuki 2y ago
> I just wish I was able to 24/7 do those things Wait, you don't? Do you have less than 24 hours a day to do things?
- mewpmewp2 2y ago
  A lot of the things I do within those hours are spent on things I don't want to or like to do.
  - tasuki 2y ago
    Then don't do them!

jjeaff 2y ago

I think that is most people's experience but it only works up to a point. you will get diminishing returns the more money you have until, in some cases, maybe negative returns.

mewpmewp2 2y ago
Probably diminishing returns, but sometimes I think there is also selection bias, with ultra rich getting there because of never ending satisfaction, so it is contingent on the type of the human. Satisified person would stop sooner while never satisfied would naturally become the richest.

david-gpu 2y ago

All that sounds sadly familiar. Once you cross the threshold of not having to work for a living, the illusion fades away. You are still you, your problems are still there, you are still bound to a slowly decaying body, there's no GAME OVER banner and credit roll proving that you have won the game of life. Because you haven't. Hah. You can of course keep yourself entertained with all sorts of stupid stuff that doesn't actually matter. Or you can accept that there are still only a handful of things that bring people contentment, and you don't need to be financially independent to do any of them. I'm talking about bland obvious stuff like spending some time with loved ones (including pets and plants), going out for a walk in the park, etc. Unsurprisingly, a ton of retirees do just that. It's not because they are old and can't do anything else, it's because they have finally figured out what works. And it's not like doing five times as much of that stuff is going to make you five times happier, either. Anybody with a full time job can carve out some quality time instead of arguing with strangers online.

naming_the_user 2y ago
It's also the case that having enough money not to work makes it very simple to engage in self destructive behaviour. If you have a 9 to 5 then you're waking up at sunrise and going to bed some time after sunset. You're probably commuting, getting out in the world, chatting to people even if it's just the colleagues, Starbucks drive through, supermarket checkout clerk, that sort of thing. If you have retirement level money and you're alone there is absolutely nothing stopping you from waking up at 2pm, sitting on your computer playing World of Warcraft ordering takeaways, not going out for a walk or seeing the sunlight, getting slightly more depressed each day in a spiral. There's also nothing stopping you from going out drinking every day or every other of the week, shrugging off the hangover then hitting the next one. And so on and so forth. People easily underestimate how much their sense of well-being is related to simple things like just going for a walk in the sunshine every now and then or eating properly.
- david-gpu 2y ago
  Yeah, that all hits close to home. I find that having a daily schedule and trying to stick to it helps. Also, going for small quality of life improvements, trying things out to see what works and what doesn't, such as a different pillow, or replacing some foods with alternatives. Having free time forces you to deal with all the emotional baggage you have accumulated over the years and it's a bit much, too. I was obsessed with saving money so that my family wouldn't struggle if I became unable to work; as a result, I didn't process the reasons why I had that fear in the first place. My dad became severely disabled when I was in college and it was a very traumatic experience for my family.
- saagarjha 2y ago
  Ouch, that hurt. And I'm not even financially independent!
- mewpmewp2 2y ago
  I have had multiple different life routines. Healthy fit, alcoholic, depression and self pity, video games no life, productivity hacking self help guru following, career climbing, start up attempting. Considering having been through all of these and knowing how each of them feel, I would hope I have enough experience and urge to opt for the healthy fit as baseline. I think it is still much easier to go for it having no work stress in life.

tasuki 2y ago

> I just wish I was able to 24/7 do those things Wait, you don't? Do you have less than 24 hours a day to do things?

mewpmewp2 2y ago
A lot of the things I do within those hours are spent on things I don't want to or like to do.
- tasuki 2y ago
  Then don't do them!