Meaningful Returns

The trouble with being rich is that since you can solve with your checkbook virtually all of the practical problems that bedevil ordinary people, you are left in your leisure with nothing but the great human problems to contend with: how to be happy, how to love and be loved, how to find meaning and purpose in your life.

In desperation the rich are continually tempted to believe they can solve these problems too with their checkbooks, which is presumably what led Jesus to remark that for a rich man to get to Heaven is about as easy as for a Cadillac to get through a revolving door.

– Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking

Broadly speaking, there are two types of money problems:

1. Not having enough money to consistently meet your basic needs. Basic needs include adequate housing, nutrition, childcare, healthcare, and transportation (and probably a few more I’m forgetting).
2. Consistently having enough money for basic needs, and having to make decisions about what to do with the surplus. The bigger the surplus, the more numerous the decisions (exponentially).

Of course, the problem outlined in number 1 above is the worse of the two, simply because it’s a problem of physical survival. But number 2 is still a problem, and as you know, it’s the problem I’ve devoted my career to (as well as this blog).

Will a car make you happy? If so, how new or old will it need to be? What will the logo on the front of the hood signify? How many miles should it have or not have? How will you use it?

Will owning a home make you happy? If so, how big should it be? How small should it be? Will you be embarrassed if it’s smaller than your friend’s home? Will you be embarrassed if it’s bigger? Will you invite people into your home?

Will taking a vacation with your family make you happy? Will you make good memories? Will you leave your work at home? Will you talk to each other?

Will that salary make you happy? Is it worth the tradeoffs that all salaries demand? Do you feel like you are using your unique talents? Do you have the freedom to be creative?

How many changes of clothes do you need to be happy? How many gadgets do you need to be happy? How much social media attention do you need to be happy? How much of a sense of security (however false it may be) do you need to be happy?

I barely know the answer to these questions for myself, but it’s impossible for me to know the answers for you. So I’ve found that if I can free people up to wrestle with these questions instead of worrying about the math of retirement and college savings and pensions and Social Security and long-term care and all that–if people trust me to do that so they can think about the questions I can’t possibly answer? Well, that’s a job well done for me.