In my experience (been there, done that, worn the shirt) this is a bad aim to have (even if it is honest) because it ends up with you fantasizing about future wealth while you fritter away Friday nights :)
Growing up, I spent far too many mental cycles on the subject of money. By the time I graduated college and got a job, though, the obsession started to fade. I didn't (and still don't) make a particularly high salary, but through careful budgeting and cost-controlling over a few years, it's become something I barely concern myself with.
My main goal at present has simply become the following:
I want to enjoy my work. Extremely so, even.
To me, this is the real challenge, much more so than getting more money.
Tell me about it. Wouldn't you know it, part of those Friday nights are spent looking up at the sky, dreaming about said future wealth...
My highest value is autonomy: ability to do what I want, when I want. This is what I'm hoping money will buy me. Will it? I need to know.
In 'How to Get Rich', Felix Dennis warns against dedicating one's life to wealth, and even says that warning is the most important part of the book. But he correctly says right after that he doubts the warning will have any effect, as the reader is probably young and tired of poverty. Boy was he right...
ability to do what I want, when I want. This is what I'm hoping money will buy me. Will it? I need to know.
Depends; you can do this on a lot less than you imagine - if you want to live in a 10 bedroom mansion, drive sports cars and so forth then you're going to need the big money.
Realize now you are statistically unlikely to get it; and, given that, think about what you specifically want rather than broad concepts.
Another consideration - are you thinking of wealth in the right terms? pg points out in his essays that wealth is not only about money; it's just that this is an easy way to gauge relative wealth. The point he makes is that you can make wealth by creating something that converts to cash (even if you never convert it to cash). But there is another point; which is that you can be wealthy without being financially super-rich.
I got lucky (am about the same age as you); as I dreamed about being super rich I ended up messing around with something in my spare time which worked out as being worth something. It was nothing stellar but in the right place at the right time it made me some money - and I found it, actually, wasn't buying me the "wealth" I expected.
Since then I've figured out exactly what I want to attain in life and my drive towards that is much more focused (I will post the list if you like, but it's not really important :) after all, what you want is a personal matter)
"Realize now you are statistically unlikely to get it; and, given that, think about what you specifically want rather than broad concepts."
Funny, I was about to read a chapter on this very topic in Felix Dennis' How to Get Rich' last night. I skipped it, because I didn't want to hear it.
I read PG's wealth essay in about 2006, when I was in first year at college (I dropped out after first year to work at a telecom startup - anything to avoid school!). I think he said something like wealth is whatever you want; If you're a billionaire but there's no food for sale, your cash is useless. True enough.
I do know that I want autonomy, and not having to rely on anyone financially (I used to think I didn't need others for anything, but recently realized how stupid I was). It's just that I've seen that almost everything in our lives is related in some way to money. Many marital disagreements are about money. Many lives get ruined by poverty. Not having to worry about money simply makes life easier. Hierarchy of needs, you know? Although I've never been poor (more or less middle class), I've come to realized that I, like most people, are only a few wrong turns from poverty.
Please post the list! For me I've often thought that I'd like to be rich enough @ 30 to be a music composer. I sometimes procrastinate by researching MIDI, Linux Audio software like Rosegarden, etc.
I find it useful to consider other options that have a strong possibility of success.
If you want to live like your rich go into investment banking. If you want to stop worrying about money, spend less. If all you want is freedom you can work a normal job in the US for 10 years and then retire to India or live like your poor for 15 years and then retire in the US.
But, if you really just want to dream about becoming rich spend 1$ a week / month on Powerball / Mega Millions and it Might happen. The truth is daydreaming can in and of it's self be fun just don't wast a lot of resources on it.
"The first stage of any cure is admitting the problem. The hardest part of any cure is facing the solution" :)
I do know that I want autonomy, and not having to rely on anyone financially
You could easily achieve this on very little money; but this is a very broad and non-specific aim whioch covers anyone from the millionaire to the hermit (and, arguably, better describes the hermit). I'm doing an Msc in project management at the moment and we just did a section about why projects fail; the number one reason was a failure to specify the problem to be solved in enough detail.
Many marital disagreements are about money. Many lives get ruined by poverty. Not having to worry about money simply makes life easier.
The important thing to remember is that having lots of money is not necessarily a solution for this - or rather it certainly ain't the only solution.
For me I've often thought that I'd like to be rich enough @ 30 to be a music composer.
Well, if you have a talent then there is a lot of money in that area (my brother is setting up to be a composer, does very nicely even while finishing off his degree). If you don't have the ability to do that as a job then, yeh, that sounds like a pretty concrete/specific aim to go for! Fix on that and flesh it out as an idea. Write it down and stick it up somewhere prominent. Break it down into steps/things you will need. Then really dedicate to achieving it.
My goals are not particularly finance oriented any more and so might be a little wierd :) Only one requires actual serious amounts of money (and, really, that is the "long term dream" I allow myself).
- live on a narrow boat for a reasonable period of time (status: looking at buying one now, sticking point is decent but not insanely expensive internet access)
- have a successful company by 27 (status: working on it, but this is too general at the moment and I need to concrete it better first)
- marry someone amazing (status: found her but she slipped the net :) working on that)
- be respected by people [by which I mean earn a position of respect somewhere important] (status: very hard, harder than I thought. though I have a little/growing respect in my work niche here in the UK)
- be respected by my employees by a) leading the charge at the company and b) being an understanding boss (status: requires my own company...)
- write a piece of open source code that is used "universally" and is regarded as awesome by at least someone :) (status: this could well be fluke to achieve)
- live in a small whitewashed cottage in Cornwall (I know the one I want, currently a wreck)
- learn to fly, fly a jet (status: problematic as it a serious piece of time is needed to achieve it)
- go into space (status: pipe dream, but am determined to achieve it in time)
> > Many marital disagreements are about money. Many lives get ruined by poverty. Not having to worry about money simply makes life easier.
> The important thing to remember is that having lots of money is not necessarily a solution for this - or rather it certainly ain't the only solution.
In fact I wouldn't be surprised to learn from a wise old man that having lots of it can be a cause of marital disagreements about money.
At first, I read your list and thought, "uh, good luck with that." Each of those take an incredible amount of investment; the number of Grammy winners who write bestsellers, break olympic records, fly planes, and are expert engineers is... zero, as far as I know.
But then I realized you don't have to achieve any of those to achieve a lot. If you try for #1 and fail, you've still made amazing music. If you try for #2 and fail, you're still keeping yourself in excellent physical shape. Try for #6 and fail, and you've still experienced some of the cultural richness of our world.
You might never achieve a single item on this list—but you'd be looking at a very fulfilling life in the pursuit of it.
Thanks for admitting that status is important to you.
I've always considered this, at least from my perspective, as less about status and more about how to judge your success.
I'd like to earn the respect of groups I, in turn, respect; for example I hugely respect the HN crowd and try my best to act in ways people here respect/approve of. This seems to me to be a relatively altruistic judge of your own success as an individual; after all if you are succeeding in the eyes of people you yourself feel are successes then that has to be a good thing :)
Earlier this year, I created a list of things I want to do before I die:
I hope this doesn't sound too critical; but I think you are aiming very high. There isn't a lot wrong with that as long as you know it is a high aim :)
I don't know if I still want to go for #2, even though I'm a Jamaican like Bolt. But one can live in hope, right?
I'd say of he list #2 is your most frivolous aim. There are years of dedication and work required to achieve that - and given your age I would say it is becoming less and less likely to be achievable. By 2012? Well I have no idea of your aptitude at running but that seems a steep aim (unless you are already working towards it).
I used to have a similar list before the current one; what you need to do is pare things down to what you really want and then break that down into meaningful goals (without being too analytical). For example: my one of having a successful company by 27 is somewhat mapped out. I have a broad idea of the field I will launch into, how I would run/build my company and which contacts I need to build to achieve it. These are all sub-aims that I can work towards on a month-month basis. Once you see those aims starting to be achieved the long term goals appear more achievable.
But, most importantly, just get working on them :D
Oh yes my friend. Just last night, I was watching clips from Wall Street and Money never Sleeps, and Boiler Room, while listening to Rick Ross & Nas' song Usual Suspects:
We're the usual suspects,
The real definition of success,
Throwing money cause I can and I love it,
From nothing, to something..."
My story? Probably similar to yours. I'm not as obsessed by becoming rich as i used to be, but it's still there. Now i just want to fulfill my rags to riches dream, instead of simply making money(They both involve money, but it's the thought that counts). I think it's wonderful how one, wherever in the world he may be, can achieve great things by just working hard and not giving up(Ofcourse, it's a lot easier for us because we're fortunate enough to live in a decent country). The only thing i'm currently afraid of is if something happens to me and i won't be able to reach my goal.
In my experience (been there, done that, worn the shirt) this is a bad aim to have (even if it is honest) because it ends up with you fantasizing about future wealth while you fritter away Friday nights :)