It’s what you think and feel about something that matters, not what it actually is.
Joe Pinsker wrote The Pay Raise People Say They Need to Be Happy sharing this insight:
“In the survey, most people said it would take a pretty significant pay bump to deliver contentment. The respondents, who had a median salary of $65,000 a year, said a median of $95,000 would make them happy and less stressed. The highest earners, with a median income of $250,000, gave a median response of $350,000.”
Isn’t it interesting?
What I see is that those earning 75k pa say 100k would make them happy. However, once they achieve that they seem likely to be dissatisfied with 100k, wishing it were closer to 150k and so on. Talk about pressure.
Which makes me wonder if we can ever be truly happy with our financial lot? Can we ever know how much is enough? And does that even matter? Rather than £s and “enough” shouldn’t we focus on something else – like how you think and feel about money?
Today much of the financial planning profession obssesses about investment returns, tax allowances, interest rates, inflation etc. – all the numbers as if they prove anything. The value of the numbers is how you think and feel about them, not what they are.
Much of our work with new and existing clients is based on exactly that – weaning them off their numbers and getting somewhere more healthy, enjoyable and free.