I read this article written by Morgan Housel which makes you pause and think as why earn, save and invest. Housel says what most people want out of savings is freedom and control. Less worry. Something to free up mental bandwidth from the “what if?” scenarios that narrate our money worries and desires. What many people really want from money is the ability to stop thinking about money. To stop caring about it so they can think about other stuff.
But (self-made) money is hard to make and harder to save. It takes work, sacrifice, patience. That makes you care about it more. Generally (there are many exceptions), the more money you saved, the harder you worked and more sacrifices you made, so the more you care about what you’ve accumulated. It’s a steel-toothed trap for those who want to save so they can stop caring about money.
What’s a common thing you hear from wealthy people in surveys about how they think about money? “I’m afraid of losing what I have.” This seems crazy to those with more modest means. But tons of savings, in the eyes of those who saved it, represents tons of hard work – from you, or someone who left it for you. You worked your ass off for it. So of course you’re paranoid about losing it. And of course it’s a treadmill, because savings often only scales when you sacrifice more. This also explains why people who didn’t work hard for their money – lottery winners, for example – often go broke. They have no sweat equity in their bank account.
It’s easy to dream about the joys more money will bring you while ignoring the sacrifice needed to make and save more money. So the dream perpetually feels better than the accomplishment. This is compounded by the fact that some of the hardest workers can’t save much money. So you get disappointment at both ends: Working hard and worrying that it won’t make you rich, or working hard, getting rich, and worrying that you’ll lose it.
The solution, according to Housel, is that after basic needs are met, is actively seeking contentment with what you have. That doesn’t mean you stop saving, stop putting in effort, stop sacrificing. It means you come to terms with the idea that the outcome isn’t a fountain of happiness. So if you’re going to grind, you better damn well enjoy the process. Housel accepts that this is easier said than done. And it’s counterintuitive. Which is why so many of us are sprinting on the treadmill.
What do you think is the solution for this problem?
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