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Wealth Is Not What You Think
Beyond money!
Watching the billionaires huddled around Trump during his inauguration and the power of one unelected rich man to fire thousands of people, it is quite clear that money buys influence. But does it buy freedom?
Even Musk felt a bit of stress when his Teslas did not sell so well anymore. I assume all highly successful people have this fear of falling behind.
Does financial wealth come at a cost then?
A friend of mine boasts that his rental properties buy him financial freedom, yet he spends every weekend fixing and updating them. He does not spend those weekends with his kids. Is that freedom?
I have seen people around me that are ambitious and considered highly successful. Sure, they have a lot of money, but do they have time? One such friend of mine recently bought a new mattress for the master bedroom. Over coffee, she sighed and said, “I just wish I could use it more.”
Is wealth not also control over one’s time? Should wealth not at least afford us to get enough sleep?
One of my neighbors has two F150s, a Lexus, and a BMW in his garage and driveway and a nice boat parked behind his house. But he still works and still carries a mortgage — while mine is paid off and I am (technically) retired.
