How much money is 'just enough'?
“It’s easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than to get a rich man to go on air and talk about their wealth.” Lucy Kellaway, a Financial Times commentator and special guest to BBC Business News, has released a series of podcasts wherein she speaks to three of the UK’s super-wealthy in order to gain some insight on the lives of the affluent. Interesting, right?
She tries to uncover the rich’s attitudes towards their wealth and how the possession of a fortune affects their relationships, values, and even their shopping habits. Her theory is that it’s surprisingly hard to be wealthy; considerably more so than acquiring it. Sheargues that it’s even harder to talk about money now, what with the Eurozone crisis dampening the jolliest of spirits. Here's what three people have to say about their money.
"Rich people aren’t nice"
Anne (name changed), an entrepreneur, was brought up to believe that you weren’t necessarily a nicer person if you were financially privileged. So when she found out her company was doing well, she was afraid of losing track of the real world.
"Money gives you freedom"
Jeremy Middleton has always sought to enhance his riches because he wanted independence. It has given him the freedom to enjoy the finer things in life, but he insists he’s still in touch with the ‘real world.’
"Be a calculated altruist"
Sir Peter Moores is known for being a philanthropist who invests in the arts. Having been born into a wealthy family, he never thought of himself as wealthy in primary school. Listen to his view on money and life here.
So what is the perfect amount of money? Kellaway reckons it's having enough to not have to worry about paying for emergencies, but not so much that you need to worry about how to give it away. People, she found, don’t mind talking about money, but they don’t like thinking about it. The poor think about it all the time, as do the super rich. The perfect amount of money is when you hardly have to think about it all.
What would you say is the perfect amount of money for you?
Pic credit: The Catboy and Geordiebird Breakfast Show
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Comments
That's such a difficult question, Uzma! I certainly don't own my own plane (if only!), but I can relate to Jeremy when he says that the more you have the more you re-evalute its worth, so that you might think very little about buying something you might have balked at spending X amount on when you had less. Love these interviews - very honest and illuminating. Take a few minutes out to listen to them, cashy peeps...
Uzma, I will listen to the interviews, this evening -- but my first thoughts of how much money is enough, always go back to a mentor of mine, who told me when I was 24, Colin read Charles Dickens. He wrote: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen, ninety and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds and sixpence, result misery." How much is enough comes down to, I think, being happy with what we have now. I will probably come back after listening to the interviews, many thanks for sharing.
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