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Kiddo, the OP specifically said, "NOTE: Don't put down that you just want more stuff or more money to buy more stuff. Those are not valid reasons to want to be "rich"." His opinion, his thread and posters have responded in kind. If you have something to contribute based on the OP's question as posed then I'm sure your comments will be duly noted but to immediately jump in and argue with what he's asking is rather disrespectful.
In response to the OP, I've been both financially rich (or at least quite "well off") and financially struggling at different times over a long life. At this late stage of my life I can't even think of retiring as I'm self-employed and run a business entirely dependent on me. I don't want for much on a day to day basis, I've thus far remained quite healthy and my vast and varied experience where employment and experience is concerned hasn't negated any optimism that if my thus 15 year old current business should come to an end, I wouldn't be able to find another arena which would enable me to support myself.
Being financially rich would be nice at this stage of the game and would enable me to take more time off and do some more traveling, contribute more to charitable causes, give some financial aid to family members who need a respite and generally have a lot less to worry about every day.
Being "rich" to me has taken on a whole new meaning for a long time now. I'm "rich" because my life has been enriched through exposure to so much and from which I've learned and in turn has benefited others in other than material ways. Cheers!
I've known about this thread for quite some time, but I finally decided to write my opinion.
I wasn't arguing. I was just saying how the reasons the OP said are invalid might actually be the reasons why someone wants to be rich. And then I explained why I would want more money.
You are arguing...you looked through my posts to find this thread just to argue with me. I doubt you just happened to stumble across this thread...you probably looked through my posts.
I've known about this thread for quite some time, but I finally decided to write my opinion.
I wasn't arguing. I was just saying how the reasons the OP said are invalid might actually be the reasons why someone wants to be rich. And then I explained why I would want more money.
You are arguing...you looked through my posts to find this thread just to argue with me. I doubt you just happened to stumble across this thread...you probably looked through my posts.
Paranoia seems to be running rampant here. I have read this forum a lot as I do many others, the thread title appealed to me and thus I responded. Trust me, kiddo, I have far better things to do than specifically go through your posts.
The only reason I can possibly imagine for wanting to be rich in tangible assets is to give most of it away. I don't need to be rich to be happy. Money makes life easier, but I don't believe money creates happiness. You can lose every cent you have but if you lose your soul; then I really believe you've lost it all...
The only reason I can possibly imagine for wanting to be rich in tangible assets is to give most of it away. I don't need to be rich to be happy. Money makes life easier, but I don't believe money creates happiness. You can lose every cent you have but if you lose your soul; then I really believe you've lost it all...
If a person is dirt poor they don't care how they get their next meal, they just know they need it for survival. Poverty can turn us into beasts, stripping us of our dignity and humanity, which is why high poverty area are also high crime areas. Money can create happiness if you get a little steady stream of income after you've had nothing. Real impoverishment and hardship is a lesson that most people never completely forget, it leaves a hollow and hungry emptiness in some part of the soul.
You say more stuff and more money are not valid reasons.
But what if those are the reasons someone wants to be rich?
The reason I would want to be rich is so I don't have to choose between buying something I want or buying something I need...I want to be able to afford both.
And I think it would just be comforting knowing you can afford stuff and not having to worry about money.
That's interesting. The line between 'want' and 'need' seems to vary a bit among folks.
My family taught me that paying interest was akin to sinning. I always saved and always paid cash for a new car. I always thought that someday I would NEED (not merely 'want') that new car (new, because of reliability and my ignorance of mechanics), and was saving for the next as I purchased one. I am not wealthy.
I don't feel that I need nor want a new camera or computer every few years but my husband sure does. Do we, any of us really NEED non-manual lawn mowers or snow blowers? We have managed, in the past, to live without a car, walking for groceries and taking public transportation to doctors. Heck, we don't NEED toothpaste, but can use salt or baking powder. I think 'need' and 'want' can change over time. Perhaps the only true 'need' is nourishment, and protection from weather and clothing, but that puts at the levels of lower animals, doesn't it? In a way, everyone deserves to have needs met, and at least some wants, no?
Has anyone considered the downside of having all that money?
All of a sudden you have to worry about why Joe, over there, is acting like your long lost buddy. People who would not take a second look at you are interested. Long lost relatives come out of the woodwork. You would, naturally, build a wall between you and 'these' people and would henceforth be thought of as being stuckup and a cheap skate. So, you would have to make a whole new bunch of friends and screen them first so they at least are in the ballpark at having equal wealth.
I think I would like to have a house and staff in NYC, London, and along the Mediterranean. Yup, and a plane. A driver and car at the ready. A chef who will cook interesting low fat dishes for me. I would study and collect art and travel the world with friends to attend concerts. After a while I suspect I would reach a saturation point in the pursuit of worldly pleasures and turn my eye towards helping those less fortunate than I. I think a big thing I would try to encourage with my money would be research in how to use spent nuclear fuel. It is good to help people here and now, but in our need for clean alternate fuels we are perhaps preserving the globe for the future of humanity.
It might cause me to have to eliminate people who are not my true friends? I try to do that anyhow, so I don't really the difference. And why would I care what they think if they only see me for my money? I would gladly make new friends. I don't see this as much of a price to pay at all.
I'd want to be land rich, not necessarily cash rich (enough cash in trust for taxes). I'd buy up as much land as I possibly could and protect it from developers. My dream would be to live self sufficiently in the middle of a hundred acres or more, with no neighbors, and hire someone to farm it.
It was because I didnt want my in-laws to think I was a golddigger. Perhaps that's not a good reason to seek affluence, but I wanted their respect. So I worked my arse off and thank God, I've been immensely blessed.
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