What is More Important than Money?

Hint: you will not find the answer in this article

As a child, have you ever wanted something really badly? Like a new pair of shoes or the latest edition of a video game console?

Do you remember the immense effort you put in to get that item and the absolute joy you experience when you finally obtain that item?

When you first get what you want, you will be incredibly jubilant. You will show it to your friends and think about it all the time. Until you reach a point, which is usually very shortly, you get bored and you want something else instead.

Guess what, that feeling of yearning and then fleeting happiness when an achievement is made is always there, no matter how high you go.

Now Imagine You Already Have Achieved Financial Independence

Plenty of financial media talks about achieving financial independence. Meaning that you could live off from the yields of your investment or savings rather comfortably. You no longer have to work that full time 9-5 job.

Assume that through all of the hard work and effort that you have put in, you already achieve financial independence.

Be honest with us, what do you want to do next?

We Talked to People about their Goals after Financial Independence

Out of 10+ people that we have talked to (for this article), 99% does not have a clear answer. Usually, their answer will be like this:

• I am going to travel around the world

• I am going to learn a new language

• I am going to be a master level chess player (that’s me)

Don’t get us wrong, travelling around the world is super fun. You expose yourself to learn new cultures, different cuisines, etc. But probably it will be fun for the first 6 months. If you are a talented person who can retire at 35, by the end of your world tour, you will be 35.5. You still have 40 years of life maybe?

Learning a new language is also fun. The novelty of being able to understand something that is once alien is almost always refreshing. But it usually takes about 1-2 years to really get good and be fluent at languages. Again, if you are a talented person who can retire at 35, by the end of your language course, you will be 36-37. You also still have 40 years of life maybe?

Playing chess and getting good is probably the most fun (the author is a huge chess fan). The nice thing about chess is obviously beating other players. But it usually takes about 5-6 years to reach master level chess. Again, if you are a talented person who can retire at 35, by the end of your intensive chess training, you will be 40-41. You also still have 35 years of life maybe?

You get where we are going with this. Usually your non-monetary hobbies that you really want to do only last for a short while.

Our Belief

We are confident that our clients are well under their way toward financial independence or probably is already financially independent.

Perhaps something to think about is what do we want to do next when all the money is no longer a problem. Because when you get all the money that you think you will ever need, that immense excitement will go away fast. Just like when you receive your first much coveted goal.

What will you do in the long run?

It is certainly an open question and not for us to answer, but something to think about once in a while.