Comments on: The new way to measure wealth …

By: Rent Wealthy?- 7million7years

Rent Wealthy?- 7million7years — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:26:59 +0000

[...] only a couple of weeks since I told you about a new way to measure wealth, and here is an article on a respected blog telling you how to go about renting ’stuff’ [...]

By: Adrian

Adrian — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:51:27 +0000

@ Adrian – Great points; which is why I was careful NOT to put any $$$ figures in my post, because it’s all relative to the cost of living Your Life’s Purpose. In Mexico, as both you and Luis allude, the cost of “two fish” may very well make you Buy Wealthy for a sum that would barely make you Rent Wealthy in, say, the USA.

By: @ Adrian

@ Adrian — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:39:39 +0000

@Adrian, Some of my retired neighbors live well off with an average of about 1800 dollars a month. Some even make it work with much less…

Typical neighbor: nice 3 bed, 2.5 bath house, 1 – 5 blocks from the beach. They dine out all the time, they have a maid, they give back to the community. They take trips to other parts of Mexico. They take trips back to the States to visit family.

Some retirees don’t do so well but that has more to do with the cultural aspect of living the “two fish a day lifestyle” not the financial aspect.

Saludos,

By: Adrian

Adrian — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:53:26 +0000

@ Scott – You’ve just written my follow-up piece. Thanks!

@ Luis – Baja Country. Nice. Presumably, your cost of living is equally low over there?

By: luis

luis — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:05:35 +0000

@wj You don’t have to go that far. You would be amazed at how many expats live in my current community here in Baja and throughtout Latin America.

By: Andee Sellman, One Sherpa

Andee Sellman, One Sherpa — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:56:48 +0000

Very interesting thoughts Adrian. As usual you come up with a very nice nuance that many of us have not thought of.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:46:09 +0000

This is a great post because I think it addresses something that we all never talk about…..the fact that building wealth and “getting to the next stage” can be very addicting for the human condition and difficult to force yourself “out of the game”.

What I mean is, most people that are becoming wealthy or getting to a stage that most would consider wealthy, are still majorly discontent. You get to a certain level and look over your shoulder to realize that there are tons of people over there enjoying a much GREATER wealth than yours, so you keep trucking along, coming up with MORE business ideas, or how to expand your current ventures to build and have more! And the cycle repeats.

Does it really ever end or is the thought of cashing out and “taking the money and run” to live your life’s purpose just an illusion? Many folks say they will cash out, but is this just the ‘ideal self’ speaking and not reality once you get there? Think about it…

I see this pursuit as being a slave to money still, much in the same way that I look at someone in debt up to their ears, working a job, paycheck to paycheck, waiting for Friday, meanwhile making someone else wealthy by building THEIR business. It’s basically the same thing, only in a different version. I would much rather be in the ‘wealthier’ version, but man, the though of getting to your ‘number’ and getting the heck out of the game and rat race over more money accumulation(and more inevitable discontent) sounds so much more appealing, if one can actually do it……;)

By: Ill Liquidity

Ill Liquidity — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:00:41 +0000

Debt rich is my situation. The system works, but against me.

By: wj

wj — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:12:20 +0000

Another bizarre way to achieve financial independence (not really rent wealthy) earlier is to move to a country perceived to have lower standard of living but with your spending power, you will be at the higher quality of living quadrant in that country.

Example, with us$1mil properly invested, you might be living the life of a “peasant” millionaire in USA with the high healthcare cost etc etc. But with that same us$1mil portfolio, you could be living the life of a “middle-class” millionaire in Thailand or Malaysia. Your money is stretch further there.

By: traineeinvestor

traineeinvestor — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:31:20 +0000

That is a very neat way of putting it.

If you are going to step up to a higher
level of consumption, make sure you have a healthy margin to make sure you can stay there – getting knocked back down would be….painful from both a financial as well as an emotional perspective. At the bottom end, the sustainability of your chosen lifestyle would be a cause of stress (at least for me).