I don’t know. It depends on what you do with it. It would be fun going around the world funding worthwhile charities that are struggling and need assistence without them knowing who you were.
Yes, depending on how you acquired the “too much” money. Bill Perkins book “Die with Zero” comes to mind as I think about this question. He discusses how people often focus on accumulating more money and unfortunately in some cases neglect their health and time. For example, lets say you need $80,000 per year to live on in retirement. According to the 4% rule (or 3% if you want to be more conservative), you would need $2 million (or $2.6 million if following 3%). Lets say your 40 and want to retire at 60. Based on several retirement calculators you are on track to retire at 60 with $3 million, above your goal number. Then lets pretend your boss says he can promote you, but it will result in working more hours, however, you would get a 20% increase in pay. What would you do? A person that is mainly concerned with just accumulating more money would likely take the promotion, even though it would require more hours in the office. However, Bill would suggest rethinking that decision. Why? Because more hours in the office means less time you have to do other things (like time with family, hobbies, etc.) and likely less time to devote to keeping yourself healthy (e.g., if I am working more, I won’t have time to exercise or eat healthy). So, he would suggest maybe passing up that promotion and spending those extra hours that you would have in the office, doing things (experiences) at age 40 that you will likely not be able to do in retirement (e.g., water ski). So, yes, it is very possible to have too much money if it results in one neglecting their health and giving up time in one’s younger years (or just giving up one’s time period no matter your age). Keep in mind, there is so much more to this book, then this example. I just used this example as it related to the topic of whether it is possible to have too much money. I do encourage everyone to read the book as it will likely get you thinking about what accumulating more money may cost you in time and your health. It did for me.
Two books on this topic come to mind: Mike Piper’s More Than Enough: A Brief Guide to the Questions That Arise after Realizing That You Have More Than You Need and John Bogle’s Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life. These books persuaded me that it is possible to have too much money and that accumulating money as an end in itself is an empty pursuit. Once you have more than enough, you have to figure out how best to deploy the excess for good ends. As Adam Grossman suggests, that’s not necessarily an easy thing to do.
I never thought having too much money is a problem. But now I realize it could be. So now I think I should give more to charity as Adam Grossman suggests.
This question reminded me of the time after we had finished paying off our mortgage and suddenly I was saving all this money for us and our passbook savings was getting rather large. It reminded me of Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. LOL! A good problem to have, but we needed to make a plan for how to invest the money. Which we did.
Having too much money is only a problem if forced to get rid of it for tax saving reasons such as donating it to philanthropy that doesn’t show results but just provides cover for protecting your wealth.
Yes, but there’s no easy solution. Having a lot of money can lead to financial conflict within families. It can lead to fraud and theft. It can lead to a phone that never stops ringing with requests from charities as well as from others asking for loans and handouts.
When my brother was in grade school, a friend, whose family had a university named after them in the 1700s, said to him: “You’re lucky your family hasn’t been ruined by money.” At the time, it seemed like an insult. But over time, I’ve come to see the truth in this. Again, there’s no easy solution, but those who envy the super-wealthy should be grateful that there’s a whole category of problems they never have to deal with.
Here’s a thought experiment. Imagine someone offers to give you as much money as you want to live comfortably for the rest of your life. There are four other contenders for this gift. The one with the lowest number wins.
The short answer is yet. Some people end up working too long because they do not have a handle on how much their retirement lifestyle will cost them so they always feel the need for a little more. If you don’t know your numbers you can end up wasting some some retirement years – time you can never get back. How sad is that?
The question of having too much money reminds me of Benjamin Franklin’s lesson of having paid too much money for a whistle. The danger isn’t so much having too much money but the mistakes many of us create in how we spend money, paying too much for our own whistles.
I suppose so if you let money control you. In other words, money can become an obsession that paralyzes you or makes you greedy or any other behavioral issue that money exacerbates. One way to handle that type of problem is to donate whatever constitutes more than “enough.” Create a charitable trust that benefits the causes that you support, and those behavioral issues of paralysis, greed etc. will fade away. The negative emotion is replaced by positive, fulfilling emotions… it’s a better way to live in my opinion.
I don’t know. It depends on what you do with it. It would be fun going around the world funding worthwhile charities that are struggling and need assistence without them knowing who you were.
Yes, depending on how you acquired the “too much” money. Bill Perkins book “Die with Zero” comes to mind as I think about this question. He discusses how people often focus on accumulating more money and unfortunately in some cases neglect their health and time. For example, lets say you need $80,000 per year to live on in retirement. According to the 4% rule (or 3% if you want to be more conservative), you would need $2 million (or $2.6 million if following 3%). Lets say your 40 and want to retire at 60. Based on several retirement calculators you are on track to retire at 60 with $3 million, above your goal number. Then lets pretend your boss says he can promote you, but it will result in working more hours, however, you would get a 20% increase in pay. What would you do? A person that is mainly concerned with just accumulating more money would likely take the promotion, even though it would require more hours in the office. However, Bill would suggest rethinking that decision. Why? Because more hours in the office means less time you have to do other things (like time with family, hobbies, etc.) and likely less time to devote to keeping yourself healthy (e.g., if I am working more, I won’t have time to exercise or eat healthy). So, he would suggest maybe passing up that promotion and spending those extra hours that you would have in the office, doing things (experiences) at age 40 that you will likely not be able to do in retirement (e.g., water ski). So, yes, it is very possible to have too much money if it results in one neglecting their health and giving up time in one’s younger years (or just giving up one’s time period no matter your age). Keep in mind, there is so much more to this book, then this example. I just used this example as it related to the topic of whether it is possible to have too much money. I do encourage everyone to read the book as it will likely get you thinking about what accumulating more money may cost you in time and your health. It did for me.
I have had too little. I prefer to deal with the challenges of too much.
If I have too much greed, there will never be too much money. If I know exactly how much I want, it’ll be too much money beyond that amount.
I never thought having too much money is a problem. But now I realize it could be. So now I think I should give more to charity as Adam Grossman suggests.
This question reminded me of the time after we had finished paying off our mortgage and suddenly I was saving all this money for us and our passbook savings was getting rather large. It reminded me of Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. LOL! A good problem to have, but we needed to make a plan for how to invest the money. Which we did.
No. It is only possible to give or spend too little.
No
It is not the state of having too much, but rather understanding the cost of how the “too much” was acquired.
Having too much money is only a problem if forced to get rid of it for tax saving reasons such as donating it to philanthropy that doesn’t show results but just provides cover for protecting your wealth.
Yes, but there’s no easy solution. Having a lot of money can lead to financial conflict within families. It can lead to fraud and theft. It can lead to a phone that never stops ringing with requests from charities as well as from others asking for loans and handouts.
When my brother was in grade school, a friend, whose family had a university named after them in the 1700s, said to him: “You’re lucky your family hasn’t been ruined by money.” At the time, it seemed like an insult. But over time, I’ve come to see the truth in this. Again, there’s no easy solution, but those who envy the super-wealthy should be grateful that there’s a whole category of problems they never have to deal with.
You’re very perceptive, Adam. I’ve said for years that winning the lottery might not be a good thing.
Here’s a thought experiment. Imagine someone offers to give you as much money as you want to live comfortably for the rest of your life. There are four other contenders for this gift. The one with the lowest number wins.
What is your number?
Took me a few minutes to understand the challenge. Love it. That puts everything in perspective. Thx.
Very clever!
The short answer is yet. Some people end up working too long because they do not have a handle on how much their retirement lifestyle will cost them so they always feel the need for a little more. If you don’t know your numbers you can end up wasting some some retirement years – time you can never get back. How sad is that?
The question of having too much money reminds me of Benjamin Franklin’s lesson of having paid too much money for a whistle. The danger isn’t so much having too much money but the mistakes many of us create in how we spend money, paying too much for our own whistles.
I suppose so if you let money control you. In other words, money can become an obsession that paralyzes you or makes you greedy or any other behavioral issue that money exacerbates. One way to handle that type of problem is to donate whatever constitutes more than “enough.” Create a charitable trust that benefits the causes that you support, and those behavioral issues of paralysis, greed etc. will fade away. The negative emotion is replaced by positive, fulfilling emotions… it’s a better way to live in my opinion.