Do you wanna be rich or happy?

Kell_ee001 said:
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Obviously being rich (and thats without overtime) life would be easier and I'd have a chance to make myself happier.
As I said before, being rich isn't problem free.

I know nothing about your life, or problems, but here's a couple of things about being rich that may not have occurred to you.

If you are rich, sooner or later a "friend" will approach you for "help". That usually means money. Many of you may think "well, I'd help a friend if I could". Great. Me too. But what if the "friend" has a drink problem? What if the friend fancies himself as a businessman but has blown every business he's tried thorugh raging incompetence, and now that he's run out of family to tap for funds to finance his latest brainwave, he's decided to milk you because, after all, you're loaded. Do you pander to him, knowing full well you're throwing money away, or do you decline politely .... and probably lose a friend.

Suppose you're single, and looking for a mate for life. How can you be sure that the guy romancing you is interested in you, not your bank balance. Is he sincere, or are you being taken for a fool? Will even mere suspicion ruin the romance? And if you aren't suspicious, or at least cautious, you're a sitting target.

Even worse, when you have kids, how can you be sure that the guy romancing your daughter is genuinely interested in her, and not your bank balance? How do you protect your kids from this kind of exploitation. I'm not always exactly a subtle type, and I've had a couple of "you hurt her and there won't be anywhere on earth far enough away for you to hide" conversations. If that doesn't scare the poop out of 'em, they're either sincere or too stupid to have much imagination. :D

Anyway, the point I'm making is that money (and I man serious money) can blight relationships. And sometimes it blights them is subtle ways. Sometimes you'll find people that you do genuinely regard and believe are friends distance themselves from you because they don't want to risk you thinking they're only after the money. Sometimes, people you do genunely want to help, and that need it, won't take help because they think you'll think that's all they wanted. It isn't always about people being after your money, but sometimes about people being worried you'll think that's what they're after. So you end up losing a friend precisely because they're trying to avoid losing your friendship and respect.

As I said earlier, money has it's own problems. And unless you've got it, you won't always see a lot of them coming. It can, in some ways, be a lonely place.
 
Murf said:
I'm happy at the moment, but that's despite my financial woes. If I won the lottery I'd be the happiest man in the world. I could spend 18 hours a day with friends, family and pursuing any hobby I wanted to. I could go anywhere I want to, drive anything I want to, see anything I want to.

Money clearly makes being happy a lot easier, I'm only happy at the moment cos I'm essentially blocking out my money issues.

I had a similar view too ... It went along the lines of;

"Oh, I can do this this and that with x y and z and we can go to thingybob with doodar and then all go back to Janes and listen to some whatever and have finger foods ... "

Or

"Wow, spur of the moment thing! Lets go Skiing on the Piste !!" ...

Then I realised ... Oh ... I can't do this this and that with x y and z because they're doing chores, like shopping after a hard days work ... and we can't go to thingybob with doodar because she is working late again ... and going back to Janes to listen to whatever is starting to wear the group down, because for the past 5 days we've been having all this fun and they're burned out now and they're starting to fall behind at work ... and now theres resentment and envy because I can lay in and recover while they all have to go to work ...

Its all well and good this dream but if there is no one there to share the benefits of it with ... well ... its just that, a dream ...

If you win the Lottery or earn a lot of money or inherit a lot of money, you're going to probably become a lot more lonely .. because suddenly the thing that bound you with everyone else you knew, those commonalities, have vanished ... and you're now an alien ... and all those things you all dreamed of doing, that you can do, they still cannot ... and so you have no one to share the moments with ... unless you have a girlfriend or a wife ... and then its only you two, and you become lonely together ... :p
 
I'd rather be happy. Money does not make you happy, it can provide a temporary lift but it can never make you happy for a sustained period of time. As long as i have enough money to have a roof over my head, a Stereo and money to buy a 2-3 new cd's a month, and people who i care about and care about me around me then thats all i need.

Yes being rich would be cool, but i'd rather be happy, no point living an unhappy life and having money, rather live a happy life and have relatively little money.
 
I understand that being rich brings it's own problems Sequoia. I used to live in a very wealthy area down south and saw a lot of the points you bring up come to life there. Biggest change is usually within the immediate group of friends. No offense, but mainly with students who live on next to nowt with bad wages from bad bar jobs.

If one person becomes the one in the group always has the money, who is always the one who calls everyone else, always invites people round thier house and is always the first to get in the drinks - they'll also be the first out the door when if they every stop.
 
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i would be really happy if i was rich. i would still have a job that i enjoyed instead of sitting around all day. That must keep you abit happy. Imagine driving around town or something in a ferrari, everyone staring. I wouldn't mind.
 
Sequoia said:
It can, in some ways, be a lonely place.
That's ok. My Nigerian uncle would be most utmostly interested to hear from you :D

I can slightly relate one of your points - I'm running my business this year while my friends are all in their first/second year of uni and hence comparatively broke. So I get the odd comment now and then, and the odd crazy phone call..."we had this idea last night, we only need £X..."
 
For me happiness implies I'd have at the very least enough money to get by, and being rich doesn't imply happiness. So I'd rather be happy:)
 
6. Net worth > £10m

That's what I'd consider 'rich'

When you start earning 7+ figures your 'income' matters less becuase more than likely you'll have lots of other methods by which your 'richness' could be measured, so I'd use net worth instead, though that can also be misleading - no good having a house which has risen in value since you bought it, as the money is tied up by you, er, needing somewhere to live :)
 
Why do I have to choose between them? :p Why can't I just aim to achieve both eventually instead of settling for one or the other? ;)

Roberta said:
Although I do really need to win the lottery to buy a house in Leeds.
Know that feeling, although not Leeds :p
 
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