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it becomes very important the day the pay check stops and you retire.......
you cant retire with toooooooooooo much...the rules of the game change and its no longer about that pile of dough.
what becomes important is what the dough generates to live on for a lifetime.
the guy next door with no savings and a 40,0000 buck a year pension isnt any better or worse then you are with a million bucks in savings and no pension.
Can anyone explain to me why it's SO important to make a lot of money?
My parents are pretty successful hardworking individuals who now live very comfortably. For me, I personally don't have a problem with earning a middle-class wage and living a middle-class lifestyle - I honestly believe that after earning enough to meet my basic needs, I would like to spend my free time going fishing, mountain-climbing, swimming, hunting, or just relaxing somewhere instead of fighting to get a higher paycheck.
But whenever I mention this to my parents, they go nuts - looking at me like I'm insane not to want to strive for more. I've seen my dad work 18 hour days and it ain't pretty. Sure, he made boatloads more money from doing so, but there's a LOT of things he sacrificed in order to do it.
But I'm a pretty naive and idealistic kid. I'll admit it. Having been coddled all my life, I honestly don't know what the real world is like. And when it comes to important decisions, I'd say my parents are probably right 99% of the time. Which is why I'm wondering if the importance of money is just something that grows on you as you get older and mature. Am I not taking this seriously enough because I'm still immature and naive?
Or is making boatloads of money really not all that important in the grand scheme of things? Is this one of those 1% of the time when my parents are actually wrong?
There is a trade-off and there is no right or wrong answer.
You DO need to take a longer term view of things to decide if this works for you or not. ie) Eventually have kids, issues that arise with aging....health insurance or retirement etc.
Its all about financial independence, and that cannot be achieved without making huge sums of money in prime working years.
It is senseless to be a wage slave to the capitalist pig for 60 years making a modest wage, while he gets rich off your back.
Your post assumes a resentful position by all wage earners that earn less than the people they work for. It seems to assume a warfare between employer and employee. I don't think that is realistic.
I agree it is about financial independence though. It is an accomplishment to not have to rely on other people, including the government, to meet your needs, whatever they are.
For the OP - if you have money you can travel to fish in more interesting places. As already mentioned - if you someday have a family - I imagine you'll want to provide for them.
I will never fault anyone for not being consumed with wealth. I will however fault someone for not working hard enough to achieve some reasonable financial independence from other people.
Your post assumes a resentful position by all wage earners that earn less than the people they work for. It seems to assume a warfare between employer and employee. I don't think that is realistic.
Whether you "resent" someone as a wage earner is not even applicable. Its the fact that you are forced to work for someone else, unless you are working for yourself, or your money is working for you.
Unless you ARE a capitalist (or you are neutral, living on cash you hid under the mattress), then you are subjected to depending on a capitalist. There is no other solution. The sooner you can break that chain, the better.
If you are content on simply subsiding on a wage, then you will be enslaved forever. Someone else (other then the government) will always be telling you exactly what you can do, and when you can do it.
Whether you "resent" someone as a wage earner is not even applicable. Its the fact that you are forced to work for someone else, unless you are working for yourself, or your money is working for you.
Unless you ARE a capitalist (or you are neutral, living on cash you hid under the mattress), then you are subjected to depending on a capitalist. There is no other solution. The sooner you can break that chain, the better.
If you are content on simply subsiding on a wage, then you will be enslaved forever. Someone else (other then the government) will always be telling you exactly what you can do, and when you can do it.
Who is forcing me to work for a capitalist? The job I have was my choice. I am paid well - and all things considered have been paid fairly for my work my entire life. I don't really care if my work is compounded in significance for the people above me in the food chain. What matters most is MY situation.
Who is forcing me to work for a capitalist? The job I have was my choice. I am paid well - and all things considered have been paid fairly for my work my entire life.
Really? The job was your choice? What happens if you didnt take that job? Do you have a money tree out back?
If someone works for several hundred hours at their risk and develops the next Killer App for the iPad and makes several million dollars in a few months, is that person a 'capitalist'? He exploited no one, took a risk and made money.
how does anyone in their 20's have the wisdom/foresight/patience/discipline to start saving for a family/wife/children they may or may not have? this boggles me.
i mean, i'm being somewhat facetious. obviously, it's better to save for a family one might NOT have than to suddenly want a family after years of wasteful spending.
So what I'm saying is, I can understand saving for a future family (including all future needs of said family) and for retirement. i can understand the need to make money so that you can buy lots of nice things/vacations/houses or whatever, because we all desire nice things.
I just don't see why I HAVE to make 100K+ to have what I want AND save for the future. I just have to live beneath my means, not make stupid/emotional investments, and make sure to squirrel away a certain percentage of my paycheck into a ROTH IRA and 401K each month. If I can do that, I think I'd be really really happy making under 100K so long as I have the free time to go jump in a lake somewhere or go fishing.
Really? The job was your choice? What happens if you didnt take that job? Do you have a money tree out back?
Huh? I have had a choice of many jobs in my life. I chose to take this job, after quitting my previous one.
If I didn't take the job I have, I would find another.
Did a government, or an armed individual, force you to take your current job?
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