I keep a running list of articles that I aim to post and a while back I had an idea for a post called “How much is enough…and how will we know it?” I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to take that post but the topic really stood out to me. I didn’t have a good answer for that question then and am not sure I do now but did want to take a stab at answering it.

In today’s society, ‘more’ is pretty commonly the thing we’re all chasing after. I would imagine a lot of us want more money at work, in the form of a raise or promotion (which ideally comes with a raise). It’s something I feel as if I’ve been conditioned to want, and I see a lot of my peers wanting the same thing. I recall a friend of Mrs. Money’s whose husband made an obscene amount of money saying to Mrs. Money that “yeah I hope when my husband makes $X we’ll finally be happy”. $X was an outrageous amount of money to me and I remember thinking, “Are you kidding me? If I made that much I would probably work one more year then retire!” I also remember a conversation with another friend of mine who made a comment to the effect of being jealous of how well off Mrs. Money and I were. What interesting conversations to have occur so close to each other. On the one hand I felt like I was making so little money compared to my friend making way more than me, and then I was reminded that maybe I was making a lot compared to my other friend?

One research article that has always stuck out to me was a study that found that making $70,000/year was the peak happiness level. Making more did not bring more happiness and potentially sometimes it brought less. So if you’re making more than $70,000/year should you slow down? Or even consider working less? Interesting things to consider!

It’s something I continually think about in my own life and did want to share a few of my thoughts so far!

I do need more, but do I?

My common answer is ‘well of course I need more’ and some of that comes from the fact that we have 2 kiddos at home and Mrs. Money is starting a business so her income isn’t fully ramped up to where we’d like it to be. On top of that inflation has been tough on most Americans, including our family. We’ve noticed and felt it and have had to adjust our budget and work on saying ‘no’ to a few things in our lives. Daycare just raised their rates $50/kid/week so that’s an extra $400/month we need to budget for. Right now in our budget we don’t seem to have a lot of wiggle room! So with that in mind, my answer is ‘of course I need more!”

On the other hand every paycheck I am saving 30% (15% to retirement and 15% to employee stock purchase program), so perhaps I do have wiggle room? We are still able to take a few small/medium trips per year (very thankful for that). So with that in mind maybe I don’t need more and could cut back in other areas?

I suppose that logic (well more would be nice but I could do with less) applies to everyone even the world’s richest like Bill Gates right? I guess I should be more apt to say that I’ve grown accustomed to the lifestyle we’re able to live right now!

Figure out what you value

Ok so I didn’t really solve that question for myself in paragraph 1. Taking a step back I often like to look at what’s important to me to ground myself. I think for me family is one of the most important things in my life so ensuring I’ve got the money to support our future and us. For me that doesn’t mean a huge nest egg for the kiddos when they turn 18 but Mrs. Money and I have decided that we would like to pay for their college (but who knows what college cost will look like when/if they go?) I’d also like for us to be able to take family vacations, eat good food and have a nice roof over our head. So, to make this happen I know about how much it’ll cost – it’s what we’re spending on a day in day out basis. So we’re probably not at a point where we could earn less, but I suppose we don’t need a lot more?

Compare less, enjoy more

As the old saying goes, ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ and that rings true to me on a regular basis. I think it’s important to not be ignorant of what’s going on (i.e. the time I was so underpaid at work I was deemed an attrition risk but didn’t know it) because it’s not good to be taking advantage of but at the same time it’s important to remember what you value and remember that what others value and how they spend their money may look differently than you. Assuming you’ve figured out what you value worry less about what others have and worry more about enjoying your own journey! *Of course this is much easier said than done.

Trust the process

Finally, I am a big believer in figuring out your plan, making adjustments as needed but mostly sticking to it. I’ve talked about how in my own financial life I’m a believer in playing it a bit safer and perhaps a bit slower. I invest mostly in low cost index funds and real estate that we try to manage on our own. My goal is to be aligned with the market of making a 8% annual return.

I don’t know how much will be enough but I like to think I’m doing the right things and have the right amount of time ahead of me. I’m contributing 15% to retirement, we’re saving another 15%, plus investing a little here and there in the stock market. We try to minimize our debt level and pay off our credit cards each month. Mrs. Money and I are both working to advance in our own respective careers without compromising too much on the home front.

TLDR (too long, didn’t read this article)

So, all that to say, I’m not sure any of us can ever know how much is truly enough. There’s probably no magic number and if there were it would look differently for each of us. I however know what I value in life and try to work towards maximizing those things. I know I can’t work forever and so I’m saving for retirement so I can enjoy myself during that time and also not be a burden on my kids. For right now I’m trying to focus on saving and investing my money in a reasonably aggressive amount as I’ve got time on my side and I expect to see that money grow at 8% on average. As I grow older I’ll probably do more assessing on where I’m at and if I can take my foot off the gas a little bit but until then I’m going to keep being smart with my money and also growing my career while I can!