Question: How much money is enough? And can you ever have too much? I know people who have more money than they’ll ever spend and yet they are still not happy. So what is the right amount?
Answer: How much money is enough money?
For John D. Rockefeller the answer was “just a little bit more.” At the peak of his wealth, Rockefeller had a net worth of about 1% of the entire US economy. He owned 90% of all the oil & gas industry of his time. Compared to today’s rich guys, Rockefeller makes Bill Gates and Warren Buffett look like paupers.
And yet he still wanted “just a little bit more.”
Before you can know how much is enough, you’ve got to define “enough.”
“Enough” isn’t just an amount. It is also an attitude.
Money is wonderful as a tool, but it’s terrible as a tyrant. And therein lies the difference. What is it that you want out of money?
Money can be a means to many wonderful things. In this sense it is a tool.
Money as a storehouse of wealth. You likely began your economic life by offering to exchange with the world some of your work, ideas and knowledge for some of their work, ideas and knowledge.
The only thing that makes this exchange possible is money. By agreeing to buy a thing or a service with our money, we are really exchanging a certain amount of our own time, energy, work and ideas with someone else – someone we likely will never meet, but with whom we have now had an economic exchange.
Unless you come from a family with a lot of money, you likely started out wanting money to pay for some very basic things – you wanted to make sure you had enough money for shelter, food, transportation, healthcare, etc.
From such humble beginnings, it’s hard for most of us to imaging ever reaching the place where we become financially independent. That is what I would call “enough.”
And if that’s hard to imagine, it’s even harder to imagine having more money than you could ever spend.
But in my work I see it all the time. The specific amount varies person to person, but there comes a point where the increase in the amount of one’s wealth is of little use to them. They can’t (or do not wish to) spend the additional money.
At this point, additional wealth just becomes additional work.
Money as a symbol of worth. But for many, money is more than just means. It is meaning itself. It is not so much a tool as a title one takes on. It is not an instrument, but an identity.
If you fall for the trap of allowing money to become an identity that measures your worth, you’ll pay a steep price. Because you can never have enough. How much money does it take to prove you are worth being liked, loved and valued by others?
Just a little bit more.
When money becomes a symbol of worth rather than simply a storehouse of wealth, it has switched places. Rather than being your servant, it is now your master.
And you’ll find it is a master you can never truly satisfy.
Either you will define yourself and decide what you want your wealth to do for you, or you’re likely to let your wealth define you.
When you let your wealth define you, you never have enough.
Overall, SmartAsset found that to live comfortably in any major city, you need to make about $96,500 annually, up immensely from the nearly $68,500 it estimated last year.
Key Findings. On average, an individual needs $96,500 for sustainable comfort in a major U.S. city. This includes being able to pay off debt and invest for the future.
That means your monthly expenses must be much less than R2 lakh. You are in a good place if you do not pay for your home when you get there. The amount of R2 lakh per month should be enough for a comfortable middle-class life in a city in India. But then, our life does not stop at needs.
You won't be able to do everything you want to do when living on only $1,000 per month, but you can make it work. We've put together a quick step-by-step guide on how to live on $1,000 per month by focusing on significantly lowering your expenses and building a strategy for keeping them low.
While California ranks third-most expensive for a single adult to live comfortably at $113,652, it only ranks fifth-most expensive for two working adults raising two children. The total family income should be at least $276,724 in the latter case.
"To estimate how much money you might need to be happy in every U.S. state, GOBankingRates factored in each state's cost-of-living index and used $105,000 — which the Purdue study found was the ideal income for life satisfaction in North America — as the “benchmark.”
Based on that figure, an annual income of $500,000 or more would make you rich. The Economic Policy Institute uses a different baseline to determine who constitutes the top 1% and the top 5%. For 2021, you're in the top 1% if you earn $819,324 or more each year. The top 5% of income earners make $335,891 per year.
The cost of living comfortably: On average, Americans feel they'd need to earn over $186,000 to feel financially secure or comfortable, a 20 percent drop from 2023 but still more than two times what the average full-time, year-round worker earned in 2022 (about $79,000), according to Census Bureau data.
To live “comfortably” as a single person in 99 of the largest U.S. metro areas, you'll need a median income of $93,933, according to a recent SmartAsset analysis.
“On average, Americans believe it takes approximately an additional $284,000 above feeling wealthy to really be 'worry-free.' This 'wealth delta' depends greatly on where you are in life, with the difference being highest for those in their 30s and 40s — peaking at nearly $1 million.
The most common signs of a financially stable person include having little to no debt, being able to make and stick to a budget, having a healthy amount of money in savings, and having a good credit score.
According to Kiplinger, by 2025, entering the top 2% of America's wealth will require a net worth of approximately $2.7 million, marking the threshold for elite economic status. Last year, the Schwab Modern Wealth Survey revealed Americans believe it takes $2.2 million to feel wealthy.
Saving $1,000 per month can be a good sign, as it means you're setting aside money for emergencies and long-term goals. However, if you're ignoring high-interest debt to meet your savings goals, you might want to switch gears and focus on paying off debt first.
By age 35, aim to save one to one-and-a-half times your current salary for retirement. By age 50, that goal is three-and-a-half to six times your salary. By age 60, your retirement savings goal may be six to 11-times your salary.
You need at least $2,000 to live in Los Angeles if your by yourself, and that's just the minimum from my experience. Rent a room in a family home ( one person only, usually no kids or pets): $950–1300/ mo. This includes utilities and internet. Usually includes laundry.
Depending on the cost of living in your area, making ends meet on $50,000 a year might require sharing a living space, keeping close tabs on your spending, and forgoing some luxuries. However, you should still have enough to take care of your basic needs with some left over to put toward your future.
An individual needs $96,500, on average, to live comfortably in a major U.S. city. That figure is even higher for families, who need to earn an average combined income of about $235,000 to support two adults and two children.
A single person can usually live well on a $60,000 annual salary. However, if you have expensive tastes, are carrying a lot of debt, live in an area with a high cost of living, or are supporting multiple people, you may find it more challenging to get by on $60,000 a year.
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