Being thankful and satisfied when income increases significantly?

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chenzi
Posts: 195
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2015 3:07 pm

Being thankful and satisfied when income increases significantly?

Post by chenzi »

How do you balance earning more money versus being thankful/satisfied for the one that you have earned? With less than $400k net worth in 2015, we will close just above $5m by end of 2021. I have noticed couple of things:

1. The amount of excitement, thankfulness etc I had has gone down significantly. For example, my personal TC in 2015 was $200K and all I wanted was a job for $300K. Now I have an offer that pays me around $1.1m but I do not feel thankful about the journey. I am thinking how do I push to move to 2M+ TC in couple of years. Even last year, I would have been happier with a job that paid $600K but now I keep thinking maybe I should have pushed for $1.2M or 1.3M instead of $1.1M while the incremental money does not add any material difference in day to day life. This is troubling me now. Am I associating my "Achievements" with TC? I work in tech where there is a constant push towards increasing TC. Is is better to seek guidance from a therapist.

2. I do not splurge on a day to day basis (compared to our income) - so most of the things seems normal. Except for electronics, I do not have expensive tastes (cars, accessories etc) - I do not realize the value of comfort $$ has given our family on a daily basis. I donate around 1.5K per year to charities and do some gofundmes for couple of hundred bucks now- that's at. It is almost same as I did 8-9 years back. I am a skeptic now.

All these have changed in the last 5 years. I was a completely different person in 2014 with way lesser $$$ but now becoming more self centered. What are some suggestions to keep me, my family grounded?
sailaway
Posts: 8215
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 1:11 pm

Re: Being thankful and satisfied when income increases significantly?

Post by sailaway »

Your charitable giving deserves another look, as it tends to be highly correlated to gratitude. Giving of your time, especially as a family, can also help with this.
Golf maniac
Posts: 1359
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 1:02 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Being thankful and satisfied when income increases significantly?

Post by Golf maniac »

Volunteer at organizations you believe in and donate to worthwhile organizations. St Judes and Save the Children are two great organizations to donate some of your prosperity. If you have kids make sure they volunteer and give back to the community so they can understand that others are not as lucky or blessed as their family.
Misenplace
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Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:46 pm

Re: Being thankful and satisfied when income increases significantly?

Post by Misenplace »

Although this is a valuable personal quest, the thread is locked because it is off topic for the forum.

See rules#rule-3a
This is an investing and personal finance forum. We also maintain a subforum that allow our members to discuss consumer goods and services and recreational activities. Anything else is considered "Off Topic" and is not acceptable on this forum.
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