[Howard Treesong]

[ QUOTE ]
You know whats funny; all this talk of the American dream, all of this talk about having a big house and taking cruises every 3 months.

Yet out of the successfulish guys I talk too, everyones to afraid to be rich. They settle for that 150k a year job. These are guys that worked their asses off to get there, with huge dreams, but once they hit this magical mark, they just give up.

Investing is similar, they just don't see the point of trying to get wealthy. They see only downsides; losing what they already own, failing and feeling bad, having to worry about the investment.

People just don't want to be as rich as they can be. I don't understand it, but I'm a natural poker player/day trader. All I think about is scalping as much bucks as I can. Money is points to me, and no amount could satisfy me. But I guess I haven't made it to that 'comfort' mark yet. That will be the true teller of how much drive I have.

Also, everyone who wants to be rich and is willing to put in the work almost always becomes as rich as they ever want to be (within reason). I never really understood this until recently.

[/ QUOTE ]

A year and a half ago, I quit a job and took a new one for about 1/3 the pay (brag: old job was between $1MM and $2MM/year). The new job permits me to be home for dinner five days a week, as opposed to maybe 2 days a week in the old spot (beat: in my old job, I once worked 63 consecutive days form 14+ hours a day). I ldo miss making more scratch, but I'm quite frankly happier now -- in part because I get to spend time with my kids, helping them grow up.

Your life is finite. Being the richest man in the graveyard is no goal at all.

That said, money is critically related to freedom and enjoyment of life -- so making IMO $5-10MM is important. But I don't know how my life would change from what it is now if I had another million in the bank; and so that part of it is far less important than it used to be.