Enough.

“I like the fundamental tenets — do unto others as you would have them do unto you, try to be a good citizen, do what’s right for the people around you.” – John Bogle

I found this interesting story in John Bogle’s book, Don’t Count on It:

At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, the late Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, author Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel, Catch-22, over its whole history. Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have – enough.”

Sometimes I think it makes sense to step back and think about what money can do for you instead of what you can do for more money.

I write a lot about strategies for building wealth but at some point you actually have to do something with your savings.

Jason Zweig had this interesting piece of information in Your Money and Your Brain:

In 1957, the average American earned about $10,000 (adjusted for inflation) and lived without a dishwasher, clothes dryer, TV, or air conditioner. But 35% of people surveyed then said they were “very happy” with their lives. By 2004, personal income had nearly tripled after inflation, yet 34% of the people now said they were “very happy.”

Studies have found that individuals exhibit higher levels of happiness through acts of generosity towards others than through spending money on themselves. And it doesn’t have to be a huge amount of money to trigger feelings of joy.

In one study, Harvard researchers found that getting people to spend $5 on someone else over the course of a day made them much happier than people who spent the $5 on themselves.

Here are a couple of videos with more on money and happiness:

Source:
Don’t Count on It by John Bogle