I'm reminded of this: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5-lDJWCUAAwfya.jpg
I know several guys in their late thirties to early fifties who make that much money, would love to get married and have kids, but haven't been able to.
I also know someone who made 65k a year but his wife didn't feel like that was enough to raise children on. I really think a lot more than 1% of the population where they feel like money is an obstacle that keeps them from having a family.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse
And you think those things would make you happy? A "convertible Mercedes 190 SL" and "expensive marvels of art and engineering"? You trully didn't learn much your first time around...
Yes. Like taste. But not all subjective choices are good. McDonalds will harm you more than healthy food.
Without my illness I'd probably be saving the money instead, so that I could have silly material things in retirement. Because I know that my retirement is likely to be a struggle I do these things now while I can still enjoy them.
I don't regret buying a new Mustang within a week of starting my first job out of school. I'm still driving it 12 years later, and my 3 year old loves it. In 2020 the nerves on my heart failed, and on night 4 in the ICU I promised myself I would waste a bunch of money on building a Zen 3 desktop when it came out. I finally just got a proper GPU for it last week. Playing Titanfall 2 on max graphics settings at 80FPS made my evening.
I have every intention of living well into retirement age. All my doctors seem optimistic that I will, although I'm up to 5 specialists and was just today reading about how my latest medication inadvertently alters DNA to be significantly less UV-A tolerant... As long as I can afford it, I'm not going to sweat wasting money on hobbies or overpriced cups of coffee.
Plenty lie on their deathbed and worry for the financial well being (among other things) of loved ones being left behind. You can’t take it with you, but it would be nice f your kid didn’t have to worry about affording college.
I decided to throw everything to the wind, bugger the consequences, as my worst and best realisation was that my own impending doom filled me with relief at the prospect of release from my grinding existence.
I still don’t quite know what was cause and effect, as my illness was spontaneous multiple organ failure for no good reason anyone could discern - but I resolved that if I lived, it would be to live, not to endure decades more of living death - and not long after that resolution, I improved, and found myself discharged, and incredibly grateful for the absolute basics of human existence - senses, mobility, possibility.
So yeah. I had rent due the next month, but I decided to go live in a cabin in the woods instead. It’s six years now. The sky didn’t fall - in fact, I have never been so content, or so healthy - and on a way, I did die in 2016 - at any rate, the person I had been for the preceding 32 years did.
Anyway. I ramble. My point was mainly that facing the mortality of someone close to you, or yourself, can have dramatic effects.
I’m still here. I have work to do. Got a lot done, since.
Whether or not it’s real, it’s a good story. I have known folks that have had similar stories. Last summer, I (and a bunch of friends) sat with an old buddy as he “pulled the plug,” and died from renal failure. It was sad, but it was also an Honor to have been part of it.
Reminds me a bit of this old gem: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097487/
Corporate lawyers and their ilk are usually serving to hurt others because their employer want more and only that. This person actions, indirectly, could of caused 10x more suffering and cruelness in the world than the person parked next them at a waystation.
I think the lesson I took from this is, that if your path isn't leading to good for others in someway, you are on the wrong path. If you wish for a peaceful death, that nagging feeling of regret will tug at you, making that tranquility much harder to find.