Is Money everything?

[mccity]

As the saying goes, life is like a shit sandwich, the more bread you have the less shit you have to eat

That sounds like a Marjorie Dawes dieting tip right there.

 

[Bill Walker]

But going back to the point the OP makes - that doesn't necessarily make it everything.

Pretty much everyone wishes they had a Ferrari,

I would never want a Ferrari, Id just worry about A) Do I look a complete knobhead in this ? and B) What if I park it there and somebody shoves a car door into it or a shopping trolley ? and C) Ferraris cost a shit load to own and run, god knows how much a service is, and what if it needed a new clutch etc. Id convince myself that I could be doing more with that pile of dosh, like maybe giving it to the Salvo's.
For me it would just be a worry. (but that's how I am).

But maybe your using a Ferrari purely as a symbol of attainability, in which case, yes.
We all want and desire nice things.
I grew up in a typical working class family, my Dad was a tradesman, my Mother worked in Halfords, they voted Labour. They drummed the work ethic into me at an early age, they persuaded me to go to work with colds and flu, things like that. So Ive done well, Ive worked as an Engineer all my life and earned good money, always. Now Im retired and am comfortably off, its how I imagined myself in my mid 60's, with a nice home, car, some possession's, I travel overseas a lot, I can buy things within reason. I like to think Im living proof that if you work hard enough you can do very well...….But I don't want 10 million, I don't know what Id do with it, see the Ferrari reasoning above. Im happy with my lot.

I think what Im trying to say is, we all have a kind of lifestyle dream, not everyone wants a Ferrari, for some it would bring stress and anxiety, for others pure joy. You have to work out whats right for you.

 

[halfmist]

When I first started out on my career I saw clients with more money than you could imagine. Some of them were in their late 60’s and 70’s and still working. I used to think, retire and get out and spend it whilst you can. Needless to say they didn’t and left pot loads to relatives or charity. My experiences are, easy money tends to be squandered, hard earned money is saved and put to work to generate more. I have met very few who have taken the middle road, enjoyed what it brings and left the world leaving very little. In the perfect world we need lots of it when we are very young and as we get older and I mean over 70, it very quickly means very little.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

As long as yer have enough to get a few bikes, and then bikes are everything!

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

When I first started out on my career I saw clients with more money than you could imagine. Some of them were in their late 60’s and 70’s and still working. I used to think, retire and get out and spend it whilst you can. Needless to say they didn’t and left pot loads to relatives or charity. My experiences are, easy money tends to be squandered, hard earned money is saved and put to work to generate more. I have met very few who have taken the middle road, enjoyed what it brings and left the world leaving very little. In the perfect world we need lots of it when we are very young and as we get older and I mean over 70, it very quickly means very little.

I worked with someone who told their kids "There'll be no money, but yer'll have the house'!

 

[Manchester33]

But you need enough money to able to live, house, feed yourself without needing a job. Not many people are in that situation. You could live like a hermit in the forest fairly cheaply but for most people you need to be mortgage free, have enough income/capital to keep you well fed and watered, plus with enough to travel to where you want. You definitely need a sizeable amount of cash!

I suppose it differs from person to person. I reckon I could live a happy life off around £20k per year. Using the 4% rule that only requires a 'stash' of £500k. Whilst I'm not saying that's a small amount of money, it's certainly doesn't amount to being 'filthy rich' IMO.

 

[ganganvince]

I suppose it differs from person to person. I reckon I could live a happy life off around £20k per year. Using the 4% rule that only requires a 'stash' of £500k. Whilst I'm not saying that's a small amount of money, it's certainly doesn't amount to being 'filthy rich' IMO.

That would actually require less than £500k as there is £8.5K old age pension to add on from between 66 and 67.

 

[Manchester33]

That would actually require less than £500k as there is £8.5K old age pension to add on from between 66 and 67.

True, however I'm not holding my breath for a state pension. They've got 4 decades before I'm entitled to one, I bet they'll bump the age up to 75-80 range in that time.

 

[ganganvince]

True, however I'm not holding my breath for a state pension. They've got 4 decades before I'm entitled to one, I bet they'll bump the age up to 75-80 range in that time.

Mine in due in 2026 hopefully there will be no changes by then although I would gladly swop my state pension for your 35ish years.

 

[inbetween]

The greatest thing that richness can give you is to free you from worrying about money.