The Questions That Come After "Enough"

These are reflections I’ve been thinking about personally and increasingly discussing with clients as they approach financial independence.

It’s funny how your goals change as you become more successful. Most people know the feeling of “chasing the horizon.” No matter how far you’ve come, it remains just out ahead. That’s the nature of our financial goals. How much is enough? Just a little bit more.

But I’ve also run into the opposite paradox. When I first started my business, I figured I wouldn’t be satisfied until my income reached $300,000 a year. Then I figured, “heck, $1,000,000 is only 3.33x $300,000. Instead of a paltry $300k, I’ll make my goal a million dollars a year of revenues. No wait, $1,000,000 of net income!”

And then my income crossed $70,000 a year, and those goals lost all meaning. For me at the time, $70,000 was enough to live on, including saving for retirement and doing a bit of travel. I even started giving some away. Almost nothing else in my life changed as my income grew. 

Suddenly, I was puzzled. “Why did I care so much about making a million dollars a year? Was I really planning to spend that much? I don’t even like spending money.” 

More and more, it started to seem like a vanity stat, an ego trip. Something I could point to as if to say, “I am worthy!” 

But to whom was I making that declaration?

The numbers of “enough” will look different for everyone, particularly after a few years of inflation and higher property prices. But I would wager at some point you’ll start to see sharply diminishing returns with each additional dollar you bring in. That, to me, indicates that you’ve reached “enough.” 

This is as true for your net worth as it is for your salary. I would estimate that your second million brings you about one-third the marginal satisfaction of your first million. It’s nice, and it definitely opens up more opportunities for how you spend your life. But by itself, I think it invites more questions than it answers. 

To me, that second million is enough to put finances on the backburner, and start to ask yourself the really hard questions. 

“How do I want to spend my life?” 

“What’s the relationship between fulfilling my potential, being of service, and enjoying my days?” 

As you remove financial constraints, you’ll probably find that the “life questions” matter a lot more than “money questions.” 

That’s an interesting problem to have. It’s easy to spend years trying to solve the “money question,” only to discover that the harder questions were waiting underneath all along. Those questions are more daunting, because no one can answer them for you.

At some point, money stops being the answer and becomes the tool.

The harder question is what you’ll do with it, and who you’ll become in the process.