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Comment by klenwell | Hacker News Reader

I'm reminded of an apocryphal story I read somewhere about an exchange between Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller that was supposed to have taken place at a fancy party hosted by a successful hedge fund manager.

Google reveals various versions and sources of the exchange. Here's mine:

Vonnegut: Can you believe this guy? He makes more money in a single day than we'll make in our entire lives. And you wrote Catch-22!

Heller: Sure, but I have something he'll never have.

Vonnegut: Yeah, Joe? What's that?

Heller: Enough.

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Conversely, there's a humble brag my grandfather loved to tell:

"I'm working on my second million!"

(pause for people to act impressed, while secretly loathing you)

"I gave up on my first."

+1 for Vonnegut

It is nice to get to that place where you have enough.

I'm at the spot in my career, where I don't want any advancement or promotions. I'm happy doing what I'm doing. I've got a nice nest egg saved up, so money isn't that big of a motivator.. Really at this point my career is on cruise control, just biding time until I can retire. I'm still learning new technologies, but it is because I want to, not because I have to. Really takes the stress off.

If you don't mind my asking, how do you plan for your retirement? How much money etc. needed?

Not OP but I believe he is referring to the concept of Financial Independence. There is an excellent reddit community and wiki on the topic [1]. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/wiki/faq

Basically I know what my costs are today. I take that number and adjust for inflation. I use 3% for that number. I know that some costs will go down, for example my house will be paid off. I know some such as health care will go up. I figure it will be a wash budget wise. That gives me a future number I need to adjust for.

I then take the current value of my savings, plus future planed savings and estimate their future value using several different rates of return. That gives me a savings rate that I need to shoot for, which I generally try to exceed that rate.

"The poor lacks much, the greedy everything." [Publilius Syrus]

Being content and being able to say that you have enough is probably one of the best thing you can do for your mental health. And happiness.

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