How Much Money Do People Need To Feel Safe? 💵💵💵

in #freedom7 years ago
Money is a guarantee that we may have what we want in the future. Though we need nothing at the moment it insures the possibility of satisfying a new desire when it arises. - Aristotle

That's an interesting point, Aristotle.

Perhaps sometimes our insatiable desire for money isn't related to a concrete purpose.

We strive for abundance, but actually don't know why.

How much of it do we really need? 💵💵💵

Picture: @surfermarly looking ahead

What is the price for a safe life?

In the end money is a vehicle on our way to a comfortable, safe and free life.

Most of us are even in the lucky situation that they don't need to wonder about "safety". Their question would rather be: "What is the price for a 'happy' life?".

Does happiness even have a price tag? Is it for sale?

Yesterday I stumbled upon @theaustrianguy, a future doctor with a remarkable attitude towards life and human values. He left a nice comment in one of my articles so I jumped over to his profile and found his inspiring content - and these words (in his introduction post:

I knew that I would be able to make nice amounts of money whenever I needed it. But I also knew, that “too much” money would not make me happy.

These are some wise words.

Then I had another nice conversation with @brianphobos today's morning, initialized thanks to his latest "pool meeting".

I have often wondered how much money is enough and if it would just make more sense to make a good chunk and live the beach life like you are doing!

Yeah, probably it would make more sense to focus on the simple things in life.

Well what I have learned is that no matter how much of it you have, your life still requires "yourself".

Money can't replace us.

Wealth might be able to guarantee a certain freedom, thus safety and comfort.

Yet if money isn't the vehicle on the way to a concrete goal, we might get lost within that never-ending pursuit of opulence.

Money can become an obsession and put some artificial pressure on ourselves where it is not needed. The constant seek for richness can make us sick.

And if we are talking seriously, nobody in the world would indispensably require luxury.

Have we lost our sense of perspective and stopped keeping things in proportion?

Probably the idea of making some quick money on the internet has changed our consciousness.

We look up to those people who apparently have become rich over night through their social media channels and start believing that "what looks easy has to be easy".

Opinion leaders sell their opinions, influencers sell their influence. A simple thought might be worth a million dollars.

Obviously, that sounds like a tempting opportunity.

What most of us forget is that all these people have been working hard to come so far. Their opinions are worth a fortune for a reason.

However, that constant comparison among each other leads to a proportionality shift.

We want more than we actually need.

Maybe we should do one step backwards, have a look at our overall situation and seriously ask ourselves: why not being satisfied with less?

There are people in the world who would be happy if they had only a fraction of what we have.

There are a lot of people in the world who have no idea how to feed their children tomorrow while we are worried about how to afford an even bigger car than the one we already possess.

Let's be conscious 🌎

Have a great weekend, steemians!

Marly -


Quotes found on mindset2millions.com and quotefancy.com

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The historical moment in which we live requires that all humanity rethink their way of seeing what wealth is. Natural resources need more rational use, our personal lives need more time, and business value can not only consider EBITDA or discounted cash flow. I believe that this movement is gaining traction, and reputation is more valuable every day.

However, we need to bring a problem to the discussion table: inequality. The prospect of an inhabitant of a poor country, struggling for its survival and on less than a dollar a day, is quite different from a European or a middle-class American. Talking to these people that money is not so important comes to be an offense.

You are absolutely right about that. I consider myself coming from a "poor" country with the opportunity to engage the world through the internet. What Western country considers a minimum wage is a luxury for me.

But from my observation, it boils down to how a society functions. And society is made up of individuals and how they live their lives. It is true that in most places making enough for the day is an act of survival. But when someone finally broke through and starts to oppress the people around to make his own lives more plush is how the cycle strengthens itself.

You'd realize that actually in today's society (even the poor), barring extremes like slavery and such. Many poor people kept themselves poor with addiction, maybe that in itself is a form of slavery. But from what i know, our overall economy today actually makes it possible for even the lower end of society to live a considerably more comfortable lives than their ancestors. Which is ultimately what it's all about, there's enough now for everyone.

Money 💰 is just a medium for exchange to allow most people to keep a roof over their head, food in their belly, provide the basic necessities of comfortable life for them and there families. Once you can earn or create a surplus the majority of people will adjust their spending ever upwards.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a boundless flow of money not just to survive but to allow you to follow your passions and desires. Then to make a difference in others lives.

I fully agree on everything you said here Stephen!
Making a difference in others life surely contributes to our own happiness, so this could be a wonderful circle...😉

I think income inequality is a driving factor, in most nations, for making quick money. I have been on the "poor" side of life since childhood. Business enamored me early on as a great equalizer. Do you know what my costliest mistake was? Focusing too much on money. Now, I follow passions and that has been more effective in creating success. Great insight!

Now, I follow passions and that has been more effective in creating success.

That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

I'm totally convinced that it's exactly like that - and not the other way around :-)
Great perspective, thanks for sharing your thoughts @paulie2coins!

Have a nice weekend 😊

For sure! You have a great weekend as well.

I like to say "Do not be possessed by your possessions". Great article lovely girl :)
I have a question for you--so my brother did make his account WOO HOO!! However, he is on a waiting list, and I seem to remember you saying something about there being a way around that?

Sweetie!!! Great quote. We need to be the decision makers in our own lives, that's so true.
Thanks for your lovely words.

Amazing news! Yes, there is a way to avoid waiting times. You can use the service from @anonsteem: https://anon.steem.network

You need 10 Steem and a fancy nickname, that's all :) So you may do the transfer from your @dreemit account.
If you need some further help, let me know!

Pls let me know when he's signed up to follow accordingly 😉👍

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Oh man, so he would have had to do this first? Because he already signed up. Is there any way I can talk to whomever is in charge of this and pay for the account he already made?

You don't need to talk to anybody. The user name is not blocked. So you just type it in the field on the anon steem site and that's it. That's how I did it with my steemaniacs account, too 😉
As long as Steemit Inc hasn't set up the account for him, the nick is still available.

Oh, frustrating, I just realized I don't have any actual steem. And to convert sbd takes days and since he already signed up I'll have no way of knowing if the name will be blocked. I wish I would have looked into this ahead of time :( That's why I do want to talk to someone, to see if there's anything I can do to vouch for him and get the process sped up, which I'd be happy to pay for, but I don't have the right currencies for anonsteem.

edit: Well, my husband has btc actually and probably lite coin too, I'll see what I can do. But yes, I wish I would have acted before he did.

You can exchange SBD for Steem in a couple of minutes on the internal steemit market. Just click on the link next to "SBD" in your wallet, then the drop down opens, choose "market". There you can buy some Steem for SBD. Usually it takes only a few minutes to close the trade. That's exactly how I did it a couple of days ago, cause I didn't have any liquid Steem either :-)

We're going to get this account running NO MATTER WHAT!!! Haha

Maybe we should do one step backwards, have a look at our overall situation and seriously ask ourselves: why not being satisfied with less?

Yes yes yes!!! Less is more :)
We don't need stuff, we need love and love don't cost a thing.
Thanks for this post @surfermarly, now I will have a positive weekend.

Hehe, yeah we definitely need much love in this world!
That was the perfect introduction for the weekend :-)
Have a good one!!

I have friends who will never have enough and worry all the time, and others who love life and don't worry about money. How different we all are!

Good points. You make some idealistic remarks, but the truth is that we live in a world where everything is tied to money in some form or fashion. Everything has a price, and unless the modern man and woman don't think innovatively out of the mono-dimensional view of money/currency/credit, nothing will change and it will only get worse.

From an objective standpoint, when you can spend without ever having to check your bank statement, that's enough money.

I fully agree with you. Even your words are tied to money (the payout of your comment).
Not having to check a bank account is surely a comfortable situation. It could have two causes: 1) you have high expenses but your decent income covers them or 2) you don't need much to be happy which means that you manage on the right balance.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your valuable thoughts! They were a great adding.

Great post as usual! I've never had a whole lot of money cause I'm a giver. I'm comfy in my own life and my family does not go without but having a surplus I've never had. They say money doesn't buy happiness..... I firmly believe that but I also believe it makes life a whole lot easier. To bad that 80 people in the world have and hold over half the worlds wealth? Crazy huh..... lot less to divvy out to the rest of us.

Too bad that 80 people in the world have and hold over half the worlds wealth? Crazy huh...

That is surely something I won't ever be able to understand.

Well I see how these things work in a smaller stage here on the islands where everything is ruled by curruption. The island where I'm living on is experiencing an incredible growth in tourism. However, the so generated wealth is distributed among a few people. That's why you have a booming economy on one hand, but a stagnant (or even decreasing) living standard on the other hand.

While regular people don't find a place where to live anymore since all residential blocks are converted into touristic accommodations, the castles of the most powerful grow bigger and bigger...

It's fascinating and scaring at the same time.

Thanks for your valuable and inspiring thoughts, as always it's been a pleasure reading them :-)
Have a great weekend!

I think you are addressing a great point. It is important to be efficient here and the end goal is happiness not the actual $ amount.

That said for me it seems to be good to have a goal and think about how to get there.

As an example financial freedom would create very much happiness. That would mean passive income of x per year. We can now think of how much overall investment or business income one must have to achieve such passive income.

Sure, 'happiness' might be the overall purpose. However, everybody would define that in a different way.

While some might be absolutely satisfied with a simple and basic life, not needing to enjoy any kind of material status, others would need these possessions to feel comfortable.

What is a 'passive income'? 😉 Not working while the money comes in?

Good stuff, I live a minimalist life and could survive tomorrow if all the currency we exchange was gone today. Might even be more pleasant as the party would not be restricted to the weekends LOL
Most people around here just work for themselves growing/rasing food anyway. It would just remove the taking it to market for money aspect away.
I would just start fermenting 1000 gallon containers of something to pass the time and probably quit smoking ( Another win ) or just grow it myself.
Have a Great Day
Life is Good

Nice attitude! You just proved that "freedom" doesn't necessarily require much money 😉
I had a look at your blog: nice trip from Canada to Panama! Following
Have a great weekend!

Hello @surfermarly I'm happy to hear that. I enjoyed your posts on the Canary Islands, Do you live there?
I was lucky enough to pass through there about 11 years ago on a Large sailboat taking part in the ARC race that we brought from Spain. But my Mother fell I'll and I had to rush home to take care of things. After she passed away, Led to my Panama getaway to clear my head and here I am still.
I only had a backpack then, But due to having a wife now, bought some land and built a house.
Probably better than a tent for 2 plus some land to farm and raise chickens.
Cheers

It sounds as if you were always following your heart. Great approach!
I'm verry sorry for the loss of your mother. Even though your trip to Panama seems to be a lucky break in the end, so "everything happens for a reason".
Yes, I do live here on these islands. I've been traveling a lot, too, but always came back here. So I guess that's the place where I might grow old...

The last video of your was Grasiosa, I don't remember it being so large but I do remember that it was very dry and sparsley populated just like Lanzarote where we spent some time. Zero plant life, kind of like the moon surface. How people lived there before desalination plants I don't know. Arrecife was quite lush, pretty, touristy and quite expencive.

Mr. Cody.... great story! I think there's a book here somewhere my friend :)