MONEY THOUGHTS

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Philosophical musings on money — from coming with NO money to having money:

Value over money

ERIC KIM x HENRI NECK STRAP
ERIC KIM x HENRI NECK STRAP

What I discovered:

“Value” (bang for the buck) is more important than having money.

For example, I have lots of money in the bank now, yet almost nothing feels “worth the money”. I get more joy and happiness from the thought of getting a ‘good deal’ than getting the “best” thing.

What is ‘value’?

selfie

To me, value is feeling like you got a huge bang for the buck:

The proportion of the utility you get from something for the price.

For example, even if I had the best meal of my life (10/10 taste) for $200 USD, I still wouldn’t be happy. I would prefer to get a meal that I consider a 9/10 for $40 USD. Thus to me, the proportion of value for money is more important than getting “the best” of something.

Why is this? Because I feel I was able to exercise some skill over using my money. Money is only fun when it is limited; striving to be clever in terms of maximizing your money seems more fun than just having a ton of money.

Examples

For example:

  1. More fun to buy an older maxed-out MacBook Pro (refurbished laptop) and saving thousands of dollars than buying the newest MacBook Pro.
  2. More interesting to buy a used Tesla than to buy the newest Tesla. Or better to buy a used Lambo (with the scissor doors) than buying the newest and newest Lambo. Why? You feel more intelligent for getting a “good deal”.
  3. You will feel smarter for buying a used iPhone (refurbished) than the newest iPhone.
  4. Better to buy a used Leica M camera (and used Leica M lens) than buying it brand-new.

Money ain’t the goal

Now I got racks in the bank, but to be frank — I don’t feel any different. And even after getting a pistol pulled on me (and not getting shot and dying) my thought was:

If I died right now, what was the point of saving up all the money in my bank account? Or what was the point of accumulating the money in my bank account?

Ultimately it seems that it isn’t money we want– we want meaning in life, we want purpose in life, and we want to NOT have to work a 9-5 job. We want freedom. But just because you got money doesn’t mean you have freedom. Even if you are self-employed, and even if you don’t have a 9-5 job, it doesn’t mean you are free.

As long as you worry about money, or as long as you think about money, you ain’t free.

And it doesn’t matter if you got $500k saved, $1M saved, $10M saved, $100M in the bank, or even $1B — if you worry or think about money, you ain’t rich.

Money towards what end?

It seems that if your goal in life is to accumulate money; it seems that money is just a game. That is fine — if that is your goal, it is your life!

But to me, the thought is this:

Money is mostly a distraction — focus on artistic production instead!

ERIC

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