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You don't really want a million dollars

ryanwaggoner.com

171–177 of 177 posts

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#171
post #78

I do. From the extremely rich, I heard something along these lines: "When you have money, money is not an issue." If you want to have, try, or do something NOW, money can make it happen. No waiting. Life is short. In exchange for money, I would have time. I would be liberated to pursue other things, to answer the call of other motivations. I picture it much like Maslow's Hierarchy: pierce the resource barrier, and yo…

Simple as that, my friend. Well said.

One time I was watching HGTV with my sister. A couple bought a new house because they wanted a kitchen witha view of the ocean. She was incredulous, but I told her that's the very point of money-doing whatever you want to do.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#172

I'd have no problem finding productive things to do with a million dollars. I wouldn't sit around wasting away either. If a million dollars fell into my lap, my biggest problem would be maintaining a straight face when everyone rushes to me with a sad story... Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely be charitable, but the hardest part in hanging on to money is preventing yourself from giving most of it away after that poi…

And wishes of winning large sums of money only serves to set your ambition back in life, so I generally avoid it, unless powerball/megamils is above 200m, that is a thing worth gambling on. The first part of this sentence is so true, and the second part so false...

Of course, its added for comedic irony.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#173
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your dreams and desires have nothing to do with living a fulfilling "dignified" life. His answer is so full of truth. You don't need to live in Manhattan to be happy, the same way you don't need to be in the bay area to start a successful startup. If you think that the only way to be happy (in your case) is to live in Manhattan, then you have bigger problems with your priorities than the amount of money you need to l…

Will you be as happy as if you had a Jaguar?

Probably. Happiness does not (more like shouldn't, but that's another topic) have a direct correlation to the amount of money or luxury possessions a person owns. But even if having the Jag would make me happier, that's not the issue at hand. I don't need to live in Manhattan, drive a Jaguar, own a million dollar apartment, and date Emmanuelle Chiriqui to be happy. Granted those things might make me happier... the same way I might be less happy because I have to fight horrific traffic in Manhattan, the car is actually too expensive on the maintenance side and under performs, I make a bunch of improvements to the apartment but then realize that because of the market it's now undervalued, and Emmanuelle Chiriqui is actually cheating on me with an Irish midget.

So yeah... Having a Jaguar, might make me happy. Having a Jaguar might also make me unhappy. The real question is if I need the Jaguar to be happy, and I can truthfully answer that I don't really need it to feel I have a fulfilling life. Once again, if you NEED to have the - enter whatever costly material possession here - to be happy, you're doing something wrong.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#174
post #98

Interesting post. Let me rephrase the question: What amount of money would it take to solve my biggest problems? Here are my biggest problems: 1. My father had a massive stroke and died. I miss him. 2. My mother has severe dementia and now acts like a toddler. I miss her too, in a strange way. 3. In the past 8 years, I have lost 5 close friends and family members including the cousin I grew up with who died very youn…

Donate: http://www.sens.org/ Likely this won't help you or me and it won't help your mom or dad, but it might help a lot of people someday.

not before reading this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategies_for_Engineered_Negli...

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#175
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We spent a lot on food (I goof around with cooking) and there is no way it is costing us $32,000 to raise both our children. Even if you normalized for the premium we pay on our mortgage to be in a neighborhood with good public schools, I don't think we're in that ballpark. I wonder how much of this is just people sending their kids to absurd private schools.

Add in the parents food! If we accept that raising a child is a "full time job" (in reality it is more hours... not sure on the effort though), for their first five years, then all of the food of that full time parent eats, etc. adds in to that cost ;-P You can argue that they would have eaten that themselves, however if they weren't full time caring, they would be out, earning. So one way or another you need to incl…

My kids eat nothing resembling the food that I eat (they eat much healthier than I ever did), but the difference is a wash financially.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#176
post #169
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We took one as well, but didn't know it had a name. I got a last minute deal and it cost a few hundred bucks as well.

Before or after conception? We took one before and just called it a "honeymoon."

No about 8 weeks before delivery. The last time such a thing could be done for a long, long time.
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