Maggie's Farm

When I grew up, I lived in 2 worlds - my mom's and my dad's.
My parents, divorced, had very different world views and money making capabilities.

My father was well off. I saw him infrequently, but often enough to know what it was like to live an upper middle class lifestyle. It was never fun going home and living and sub lower middle class lifestyle.

Money is ALWAYS a factor. When you don't have it, you want it or need it for some reason. I'll never forget the time my brother was injured and we didn't have health insurance. My father was PISSED at my mom for not having it (she couldn't afford it). I vowed never to go without it at that stage.

But my father taught me 90% of what I know about money. And he basically said there's no trick to making it - work hard and be smart. And there's no trick to keeping it - save 10% of everything (gross income, not net).

Beyond that, it's a question of knowing what you need, what's worth taking out a loan for, and how to balance borrowing versus savings.

I don't think this would matter much if I had $10mm in my bank account. Think about it - if I'm debt free, have $10mm earning 2% ($200k a year)......I can live on $100k and keep adding $100k to savings. With inflation today at 1% - I'm staying steady.

The messy part comes with inflation, but even then.....if my value dropped by 10%, I would still be living well.

There's definitely a point at which money SHOULDN'T matter. Doesn't mean it won't. But up to that point - it always matters. Always.

It just varies in how much it matters.