The Wealthy Personality
“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” — Ayn Rand
Imagine your boss asks you to stay after work to finish an urgent project. The project, you estimate, will take around one month. But you won’t get paid for the extra hours. To make up for it, the company gives you pizza on Fridays.
Then you remember you have $500k in your bank account.
“Thanks, but I’m going to pass” — you tell him with a candid smile.
“I’m afraid it is not an option. We have to deliver this as soon as possible.” — he replies, clearly annoyed.
“It surely is an option, and I decide not to take it. I’ll hand my notice on Monday.” — you aver as you walk out of his desk.
Freedom chips
The money you don’t spend can be exchanged for free time.
Life is like a casino where money can be traded for freedom chips. Freedom to delegate cleaning your house. Freedom to travel whenever you want. Or freedom to tell your boss to f*ck off when he tries to take advantage of your work ethic.
$500k aren’t enough to retire in Western countries, but they’re enough to avoid tough spots.
But does having ‘f*ck you’ money change your personality?
The rich are different
Research shows high net worth individuals are different from the general population. Overall, they are more extroverted, more emotionally stable, more conscientious, more risk-seeking, and more intellectually curious.
This is especially true for self-made millionaires. The more they fit this personality profile, the wealthier they are. However, those who inherited their riches were less likely to share these traits.
We could argue that wealth is a by-product of the right personality profile, and not the other way around. This would explain why most lottery winners end up broke after some years — they don’t have the right personality.
Being loaded can even change the way you laugh. See Jeff Bezos’ change: from laughing like a high school maths teacher to a James Bond film super villain.
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The Bezos YouTube video made me laugh. I didn't know that was a thing. I'm all for protecting my time and work-life balance, but equally, I don't think I'd work somewhere that has such 'dumpster fire' planning that I'd be required to stay late to 'finish a project.' Thanks for sharing your interesting thoughts, as usual. :)