How important is money to you?

[Clariman]

This may sound like a daft question on a finance/investment discussion forum but it's interesting to ask oneself the question.

I've never been that interested in money or wealth but wanted the security that it could give us: a roof over our heads, a reasonable standard of living and, most importantly, de-risking the fact that I worked in the hire and fire world of IT sales for over 20 years.

When I got fed up of my last job I did the sums, decided to take my pension 7 years early and handed in my notice in my mid-50s.

I see former colleagues who earned more than me still working hard, living a stressful life and I wonder why they still do it. Perhaps they need to fund a lavish lifestyle?

I also sometimes wonder why some clearly very well off people here continue to want to make more money. Why? What is the motivation? Why not be happy with what you have?

So what interests you in money?

C

[dealtn]

This may sound like a daft question on a finance/investment discussion forum but it's interesting to ask oneself the question.

I've never been that interested in money or wealth but wanted the security that it could give us: a roof over our heads, a reasonable standard of living and, most importantly, de-risking the fact that I worked in the hire and fire world of IT sales for over 20 years.

When I got fed up of my last job I did the sums, decided to take my pension 7 years early and handed in my notice in my mid-50s.

I see former colleagues who earned more than me still working hard, living a stressful life and I wonder why they still do it. Perhaps they need to fund a lavish lifestyle?

I also sometimes wonder why some clearly very well off people here continue to want to make more money. Why? What is the motivation? Why not be happy with what you have?

So what interests you in money?

C

I'm not that interested in the alternative.

Worked hard, earned lots. Even thought I was happy.

I have made that "lots" even bigger through investment. My research, my choices, my success. I've enjoyed doing that, in some ways even more.

So by conventional measures I have more than I need, and arguably want. But I enjoy the challenge of successful investment. A wealth creating hobby if you like. Why stop?

I guess the reply doesn't answer your question. For me it isn't about the money.

[Clariman]

I'm not that interested in the alternative.

Worked hard, earned lots. Even thought I was happy.

I have made that "lots" even bigger through investment. My research, my choices, my success. I've enjoyed doing that, in some ways even more.

So by conventional measures I have more than I need, and arguably want. But I enjoy the challenge of successful investment. A wealth creating hobby if you like. Why stop?

I guess the reply doesn't answer your question. For me it isn't about the money.

On the contrary, that does answer my question. The challenge and interest in growing your wealth is a hobby in its own right.

[richlist]

I get a buzz out of giving so the more I have, the more I can give away.
The fun is deciding who to give it to.
The real payback is when your contribution makes a real difference to someone's life.

[Sorcery]

This may sound like a daft question on a finance/investment discussion forum but it's interesting to ask oneself the question.

I've never been that interested in money or wealth but wanted the security that it could give us: a roof over our heads, a reasonable standard of living and, most importantly, de-risking the fact that I worked in the hire and fire world of IT sales for over 20 years.

When I got fed up of my last job I did the sums, decided to take my pension 7 years early and handed in my notice in my mid-50s.

I see former colleagues who earned more than me still working hard, living a stressful life and I wonder why they still do it. Perhaps they need to fund a lavish lifestyle?

I also sometimes wonder why some clearly very well off people here continue to want to make more money. Why? What is the motivation? Why not be happy with what you have?

So what interests you in money?

C

My parents divorced when I was early in my teens, as a result while I had pocket money, it didn't cover the fags or the bus fares. I grew up looking for money wherever I could legally find it. Wasn't helped by getting a little bit addicted to gambling in the bookies when I went to university. As a result of being poor I was motivated to earn money, as much as I could, to ward off the penury I was in for 10 years. Absolutely no qualms about it, just went for it (money). Went through a stage where learning was more important but only to make myself more valuable as an employee. When my wife became pregnant and wanted to be a stay at home mother, there was no choice but to go contracting (in the IT sphere), just to pay the bills.
I suppose old habits die hard and I just carried on trying to make more setting up one business after another. Nowadays have more than I can sensibly spend but am still involved in business still working to try and make it better. No longer measure success though in terms of money. It's about doing the best you can at something even though time is against people my age.

Hope this doesn't come across as bragging, it's matter of fact as far as I am concerned and hasn't always led to happy outcomes.

[Itsallaguess]

I've never been that interested in money or wealth but wanted the security that it could give us: a roof over our heads, a reasonable standard of living and, most importantly, de-risking the fact that I worked in the hire and fire world of IT sales for over 20 years.

When I got fed up of my last job I did the sums, decided to take my pension 7 years early and handed in my notice in my mid-50s.

I see former colleagues who earned more than me still working hard, living a stressful life and I wonder why they still do it. Perhaps they need to fund a lavish lifestyle?

I also sometimes wonder why some clearly very well off people here continue to want to make more money. Why? What is the motivation? Why not be happy with what you have?

So what interests you in money?

I'm not convinced that many people will be too interested in money purely for money's sake, with no real end-goal but the pure hoarding of wealth...

I think it's often much more to do with the life-choices that having money opens up, as opposed to having relatively fewer life-choices available through the lack of it...

You've actually given a good example of that when you've said you'd made enough money to take your pension 7 years early in your mid-50's. You say you're 'not all that interested in money', but it provided a route to the goal that you did want - it offered you a choice that you'd not have otherwise had....

I imagine that's a fairly common goal for many of us here, although there are many other life-choices that become available to those with the necessary funds, but it sounds like you needed to work out if you'd got enough before doing so, and I imagine similar thoughts go through many board-members minds fairly regularly, when they test their current positions against their own individual goals...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[tjh290633]

I also sometimes wonder why some clearly very well off people here continue to want to make more money. Why? What is the motivation? Why not be happy with what you have?

So what interests you in money?

C

Motivation can come from various sources. My father died when I was 19, leaving my mother with a ten shilling per week widow's pension. One of my motivations was to ensure that my wife would not be left in that sort of situation, and to protect family income through term assurance. Fortunately never needed, but an economical way of achieving that objective.

Arising from that situation, to build up a source of income in the event that it might be needed, beyond the stage where a family had been brought up, educated and set up in life. Now the motivation is to ensure a comfortable end of life scenario, involving possible surgery, care and nursing. Hopefully to have something left for favourite charities and to help descendants on their way in life.

TJH

[AleisterCrowley]

I guess I'm relatively well off by some measures* - the driver for me is to reach the point where I can 'retire' back home and not have to work if I don't want to (having done my share of commuting, long hours etc)
I'm probably there now, but just salting away a safety margin. It'll be ironic if I die at my desk on my last day...
I'm not a big spender and don't really get off on conspicuous consumption - but I do wish I'd done a bit more when I had the chance - travel especially...just as I'm starting to relax a bit the bloody world shuts down!
AC
* not by the standards of some on here with £millions

[DiamondEcho]

This may sound like a daft question on a finance/investment discussion forum but it's interesting to ask oneself the question.
So what interests you in money? C

I think a couple of issues cross here:
- The age old question of 'How much is enough?'. No really, how much year-in year out for ever more? I think most of us are used to having a salary and adapting to live with it, but the responsibility for generating and the not knowing 20-30 years hence is challenging. We've seen how even a conservative 'HYP' income approach can get whacked by circumstances, so, what is the asset goal now?

Also I don't think that the mentality that leads one to plan so far ahead in this way is the one comfortable with one day soon becoming a happy spender. It's ironic in a way, but there is no green light, no clear line you cross to say it's now ok. Care and caution built it, that drive doesn't just somehow go away.

Has anyone 'met their targets' and transitioned from builder to annuitising/spending all their work? How did you find comfort to cross that line?

[dealtn]

Has anyone 'met their targets' and transitioned from builder to annuitising/spending all their work? How did you find comfort to cross that line?

I genuinely don't think like that, or can even imagine thinking like that.

Maybe that's as a result of quite early knowing I would become wealthy through application of knowledge and attitude. I'm fairly certain I am not what would be considered "normal" in how I think about things.

There has never been a line to target, or to assess when it got crossed. I never set out to be worth "X" and then draw down on that "X". I just did what I enjoyed, and still do.

[Clariman]

Has anyone 'met their targets' and transitioned from builder to annuitising/spending all their work? How did you find comfort to cross that line?

I'm not spending all my money but we're lucky to both have defined benefit pensions and a cash/equities cushion. My aim had been to broadly maintain the value of the cushion, less an amount that we planned to use each year for travel. So to that extent we did plan to deplete it a little. However income from holiday lets, a few other activities, and our continued cautious nature has meant the pot has increased. So we are now upgrading some things at home and a holiday property to deplete it a a bit and enjoy the process.

It is hard to switch to that way of thinking but as my father in law would have said, "there are no pockets on a shroud".

[Dod101]

This may sound like a daft question on a finance/investment discussion forum but it's interesting to ask oneself the question.
So what interests you in money? C

I think a couple of issues cross here:
- The age old question of 'How much is enough?'. No really, how much year-in year out for ever more? I think most of us are used to having a salary and adapting to live with it, but the responsibility for generating and the not knowing 20-30 years hence is challenging. We've seen how even a conservative 'HYP' income approach can get whacked by circumstances, so, what is the asset goal now?

Also I don't think that the mentality that leads one to plan so far ahead in this way is the one comfortable with one day soon becoming a happy spender. It's ironic in a way, but there is no green light, no clear line you cross to say it's now ok. Care and caution built it, that drive doesn't just somehow go away.

Has anyone 'met their targets' and transitioned from builder to annuitising/spending all their work? How did you find comfort to cross that line?

If you do not have targets it makes it much easier. I never set a target but for the last several years have not needed to be too concerned about income. The trouble is that that time arrives when there is no need, certainly for me, to suddenly switch on the spending tap.....for what? Other than international travel (which is covered by my State Pension anyway) I simply do not spend money other than on the simple requirements of life or simple pleasures (like taking a grandchild or a friend out for lunch or buying a season ticket for concerts or similar) Walking on at least alternate days for a couple of hours which costs nothing gives me about as much pleasure as I suppose membership of the local golf club does for others. I think if you stay within the 'natural income' from a portfolio you will be fairly relaxed about life. I spend capital on a new car now and then and sometimes wonder about that but the cost is usually made up again by the time that I want another new one (say every five years or so)

Dod

[AsleepInYorkshire]

If I had more money than I have now what would I do that I feel would make a difference to my life. I think I'd have more holidays and that new kitchen would go in, albeit nothing over the top.

I'd love to retire or probably work part time for three days a week. Neither are available to me.

But how important is money to me? Well when I/we had none and the debts were building up as my income wasn't coming in then it hurt. And it's still painful having to save at a high level to establish something for our retirement. No complaints. Just a realisation that I now carry a significant cash surplus in my current account. At any time I can tell anyone who I work for that I am moving on. I only need to work three days a month to pay my bills and keep that surplus untouched. I want my daughter to have a good chance to start her adult life from a positive position. By the time she's 18 and as long as I remain in work she will have circa £30K in savings. Since I've been back in work we've worked relentlessly to provide ourselves with a rainy day brolly. And we're still locked into that process. We don't live above our means but we do try and enjoy our home life. The TV's are large - an indulgence. We do have two cars, but both paid for and for the most there's decent furniture in our home.

If you told me I had a £1m coming in tomorrow from a lottery win I'd retire but frugally and couldn't imagine we would burn the capital at a rate faster than it earned an income.

I don't think we worship money and we are aware that compared to many we are "comfortable". The biggest comfort I find from money is the ability to walk away from a toxic job (boss).

AiY

[UncleEbenezer]

I think money as such is too broad. I'd rather say Financial Security.

I've spent most of my adult life working towards financial security. Not always successfully: I've had two (or three[1]) spells of serious poverty in my adult life, and lived with the fear of it until relatively recently. Rent has been my main expenditure through life, and renting into retirement seemed a grim prospect.

Now that I've achieved an adequate level - I bought a house two years ago, and have (substantially) more than enough money to last me to state pension age - I can indulge in pursuits I never could in earlier life. As a music lover I've started to take composing seriously, and I was also getting professional voice tuition until Covid. These - along with little indulgences like the spontaneous[2] visit to the pub or coffee shop - are the luxuries of financial security, and I still sometimes have to convince myself I can afford them.

[1] One was a spell when, though not destitute, I was homeless and sleeping out. That was because I needed flexibility to move for whatever job I could next find, so couldn't commit to a let even if a landlord would've had me. It took me from mid-April to end-October, so I missed out on winter.
[2] As opposed to carefully-budgeted. Or - at my worst times - absolutely not at all.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

I think money as such is too broad. I'd rather say Financial Security.

Great way of saying it. I knew a guy many years ago who was clearly minted. He had his own aircraft and his bungalow in Wetherby had a landing strip for his little plane which often took him to his farm in Ireland. He spoke to me one day and told me that his greatest asset was his FY money. I asked him what he meant. He said sometimes in my life I've had to suck up to someone to keep my business interests solid. He said I was always glad when the day came when I had FY money. I asked what FY meant. He said when you can say to someone I've got a serious amount of money in the bank and I don't need your business so "stuff you".

AiY

[kempiejon]

his greatest asset was his FY money.

Was it John Goodman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfeXqHFmPI

[JohnB]

My problem is I'm so good with money, and made sure its important that I've overshot and now have too much. Money has been important to me but not the things you can by with it. So I'm too frugal and won't buy things I can easily afford because I view them as expensive. I retired before 50, so freedom was important, but not having nice things, and certainly not impressing others. A friend just bough a £1000 watch, but when my £30 casio goes wrong I will buy another one. Exotic holidays are good, but in cheap hotels.

Once you view money is important, its hard to get rid of it.

[Itsallaguess]

I suppose we should try to remember that when someone might say 'I tend not to be too interested in money' on a financial investment website, what they're sometimes saying is that they've already got enough money to enable that type of mindset...

The problem is that there's not too many pathways open to people for getting to that position without having at least some period in their lives where they *are* interested in money....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Itsallaguess]

Motivation can come from various sources.

I totally agree with that, and I've had long-held views of both positive role-models through life in a 'That looks like a good way forward' encouraging way, and negative role-models as well, in a 'I certainly aim to work hard so that I don't get myself into that position' way too, and I think personally those views were formed so early for me, and have stayed with me for so long, that they must count as one of the primary motivations for my long-term financial goals of hopefully enabling 'good' life choices to be available to me and those I care about.

It's not about the money - it's about what a huge difference having it can make in the choices available to us, compared to not having it....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Lootman]

his greatest asset was his FY money.

Was it John Goodman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfeXqHFmPI

Yes the concept of "FY money" sounded familiar when AIY mentioned it, but I couldn't place it.

IAAG mentioned that money gives you choices of what to do. But for me just as important is what I don't have to do. Anything I don't want to do I can pay someone else to do for me.

It's the same thing. Someone asks Lootman to do what Lootman doesn't want to do? FY.

Except my wife. She still gets to tell me what to do. There are some things money can't buy.