What Is A ‘Rich’ Life All About?
Let’s discuss this idea of a ‘rich life’.
Life is all about making progress right? We are born, we start school and progress through the grades, hoping to graduate and then start earning money to improve our lives. We could strive to get a university degree in the hope that this can further increase our earning potential.
But what is the end goal? Is it all about earning as much money as possible to have the best possible life? And what would this ‘best possible life’look like? A big house and an expensive car? Early retirement and relaxing on a beach? Being able to travel around the world?
We acknowledge that the way that society is set up, we do need to think about money. It is after all how we get the things that we need and want. But how much is enough? And what does your rich life really look like? By that I mean, if you were rich (whatever that means) how would your life be different to the life that you have now?
What Does Your Rich Life Look Like?
Obviously, if you are still in school, then your life will look very different, simply because of the increased freedom to live your life the way that you want. Moving out of your parent’s house and setting your own rules adds to the freedom that we all crave when we are kids.
But do rich people always have freedom? And are rich people always happy? The answer to both questions is ‘no’. Many rich people live busy and stressful lives, often in an attempt to get even richer. Similarly, many rich people are not happy.
I have also met many poor people who live simple and happy lives and who claim to have ‘freedom’. Retired people, for example, living off a government pension can live a happy debt-free life, able to do whatever they want (or can afford) every day of their lives.
Financial Freedom
The term financial freedom is often used to describe a situation where people have enough wealth, often in the form of investments that earn passive income, so that they don’t need to work if they choose not to.
Many people aim to be rich. This is quite clear. The desire for wealth is an obvious motivator that pushes us to study hard, to work hard in our jobs, to seek promotions and higher salaries, to start businesses and to invest.
But what is the end goal? Ramit Sethi’s book ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich’ poses a question to its readers. The question is ‘What is your rich life?’ The presumption here is that every person has a different idea of what their rich life would be like.
We’re All Different
Here are some examples of what many people are aiming for in living a ’rich life’:
- Being debt free
- Not having to work anymore/retiring early
- Able to afford to take regular holidays
- Working only on things that they love doing
- Owning their dream house
- Owning a sports car
The key observation is that we all have different ideas of what life would be like if we were rich.
Similarly, we no doubt have differing views of what amount of wealth would be considered to make someone rich. One person may consider having a million dollars of net wealth as being rich. For others, this would not be considered as rich at all.
FIRE And Frugality
The FIRE movement promotes the idea of living frugally in order to increase saving rates, invest more and then retire and live off these investments. FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early.
In making lifestyle choices to reduce spending and save more many people have found that they can live off much less than they had previously done. For some people, having a fairly low income but not having to work in a 9 to 5 job is already their ‘rich life’.
So when we set a goal to be rich, we should set goals based on what it is that we actually desire. What will it be that makes us happy?
If having 10 million dollars but working 80 hours a week doesn’t sound like it will make you happy, then why set that 10 million dollar goal? If you want to live a nomad-like life of constant world travel, then the focus on owning a lavish mansion may not be for you. And if you know that your ‘rich life’ is possible without owning a sports car, yacht or beach villa, then adjust accordingly.
It may very well be that you are closer to living your rich life than you think.
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