I’ll just throw this out there as some food for thought. Not directed at anyone specifically and I’m just speaking in generalities. People who don’t have as much money (I’ll generically call them poor) often have misconceptions about those who do have a lot of money (I’ll generically call them rich) and conversely people who do have a lot of money (rich) often have misconceptions about those who don’t have a lot of money (poor). However, it is much, much more frequent that those rich people, at some point, were poor, and therefore have a perspective of what it was like to be poor as well as rich. Conversely, poor people more often than not, were never rich ever in their life, so they have absolutely no perspective or frame of reference as what it is like to be rich. As a result, most of their ideas and concepts of the rich are based on speculation and hearsay and are wildly inaccurate.
I’ve been fortunate to run the spectrum of wealth. From very poor, thousands of dollars in debt, making minimum wage, all the way to having multiple properties and making well over a half a million a year. I can honestly say my understanding of being rich while I was poor was very mis-informed, and it took making a lot of money to truly understand that.
The first thing I learned was that money isn’t bad or evil and that making money isn’t bad or evil. It’s like a gun, it can be used for as much good or evil as the user wants to do with it. Money simply is freedom. Freedom to do what you want to do. People talk about enjoying life, taking care of family and friends. Money allows you to do that. After making a lot of money, I am free to finally do the things I enjoy. Whereas money used to be my restriction, I now have the financial freedom to do the things I do enjoy and travel to the places I want to learn from. Or not. That’s the point. Money gives me that freedom to make that decision. Money has also allowed me to pay for services like my yard maintenance and house cleaning, so I can spend more time with my friends and family. When my father was ill, money gave me the freedom to see him and not worry about the cost of a last minute plane ticket or paying for his medical bills and funeral. The more money you have the more freedom you have. And I have found that working hard now, gives you a lot of free time later because once you have money, it is much easier to make more money. It’s the just like the story of the ants and the grasshoppers; the ant’s hard work in the summer paid off in the winter.
Additionally, people have the mis-conception that wanting to make a lot of money makes you greedy. If fact it is the opposite. I found that in making a lot more money I have become far more generous than I ever was. Whereas I had to save my money to pay for bills, now I can give a lot more time and money to charities because I have the disposable income to give. I tip generously and I will often fight to pay for the entire bill for a meal with any of my friends or family. Ironically I use the word “fight” because I’ve also found that more affluent people are equally generous and will fight to pay for these tabs because they can as well. This was not the case when I was poorer, along with the people I interacted with. I can afford more generous gifts or set up 529 college funds for my niece and nephew. All of this made possible by my desire, will, determination and ambition to make a lot of money and to save money wisely. In this regard, one can never have enough money because there are an infinite number of things you can do “good” with that money. In this regard, the act of making a lot of money is anything but greedy, but the opposite because with more money the more freedom one has to do “good” with it. The example I constantly give is to look at Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Arguably two of the richest people in the world, yet they are some of the most generous. And generous and charitable things that they have done over the years would never have been possible if it wasn’t for their desire and determination to make a lot of money.
Lastly, I’ll say this. What I like about individual people striving to make money is that there is no negative tradeoff for doing so. And what I mean is that, suppose the total income of all of the people in the US was $100. And we taxed 10% for a net tax revenue of $10. With that $10 we need to pay for all services such as schools and military etc. So if I put more money into the military, then I’m taking away from the schools; there is a negative tradeoff. However, if someone was to make more money and increase the total income of the people of the US to $150, then the tax income would be $15. With that additional $15 we could put more of that to the military and still pay the same amount to the schools. The point being is, if more people had the determination to make more money, then there would more money to go around and more money to fund things we can all use (or at least fix this deficit). On any given year, I will pay anywhere from $100,000 to $180,000 in taxes. One guy, in one year. I don’t have kids that go to public schools. I don’t use the police or fire department. I don’t go to the library. I don’t use Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, Social Security, nor do I really support these wars. So it is clear that I put in a LOT more into the system then I am using my fair share. So essentially by making a lot of money, a lot more people can benefit from my tax contribution. This is only more so with the Bill Gates and Warren Buffets of the world. So if more people made more money, the more it would contribute to the system.
Making more money helps everyone because it gives more to the system that everyone can draw from. Making more money gives the individual more freedom. Making more money can encourage generosity because one no longer has to worry about the necessities; everything becomes disposable income. Making more money make take away more time in the short term, opens up the door for more time in the long term. Making more money allows people to take care of loved ones, friends and family in the way they would like to.
Just some food for thought...
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