What caught my eye this week.
I enjoyed Life After The Daily Grind’s article asking whether money and miserableness go together. It was sharply written and thought-provoking.
But I didn’t really agree with the main premise.
Over the last decade or so several of my friends have ‘made it’. From wealthy enough to eschew the commute forever, all the way up to properly rich.
And honestly, besides a bit of a psychic dislocation for the first year or so, they don’t change very much.
Rich pickings
You wouldn’t be able to tell the most understated and modest of my financially very successful friends from how he was 20 years ago, unless you were lucky enough to visit his gorgeous house in the country.
Meanwhile the one who took many of his best friends with him on his entrepreneurial adventure would have done much the same I think if he’d convinced them to eschew the rat race to decamp to Thailand.
As for the banker, yes it was hard to pin him down when he was working 100-plus hours a week in his 20s. But even nowadays when he mostly points underlings to the treadmill or works from home – or on the slopes – a few days a week, he’s still just as hard to get hold of. (It’s not just me…is it, N.?)
True, the friend I’m closest to remains restless and unsatisfied despite his eight figures. He still worries about money, and frets over whether he’s investing it right.
And he just can’t quit the game.
I guess this is the bit where I’m supposed to say I feel sorry for him.
But I don’t.
You see, he was restless and hungry when I met him – and it was part of what attracted me to him. His energy and drive is infectious.
I feel a bit guilty saying this, but if he now spent his days drinking sundowners and spending an hour meditating on the beach before an afternoon nap, I wonder if I’d be disappointed?
In contrast, if my co-blogger The Accumulator was living a materially richer life that was still abundant with quiet moments, I’d be thrilled for him.
That’s his lane, rich or poor.
The bottom line: money doesn’t seem to transform anyone very much – or at least not once you’re off the bottom rung. Mostly just the scenery and props.
Money, money, money
However I am largely with L.A.T.D.G. when they make this observation:
All the high achievers I’ve worked with over the years are disciplined, organised, and highly driven by material gain. While the people I know who strike me as the happiest don’t have these attributes and although not successful in the monetary sense — they are happy and find enjoyment in simple things, like a sunny day, a walk in the park, or the smell of freshly ground coffee first thing in the morning.
Substitute ‘material gain’ in that first sentence for ‘winning’ – or add it as a second or alternative motivation – and I’d agree 100%.
None of my friends stumbled into being rich. They went for it. They didn’t have much of a work-life balance. Or rather they did because work and life was one and the same, so there wasn’t much to topple over anyway.
Many of you will probably find this a bit dispiriting, and are likelier to agree with the bits in the article about how there’s more to life than money.
Of course there is! Much more.
I’m just saying the people I know who got a lot of it first wanted to get a lot of it. Right or wrong, and whatever else they were after in life.
They weren’t necessarily happy or miserable before – nor more so afterwards.
Shiny and/or happy people
All that said, this thought experiment is perceptive:
If the health trackers we wear on our wrists that track our activity and sleep could somehow accurately tell us a happiness score out of 100, and in addition, we could compare that score with friends and celebrities then we would obsess over that number. It would be used to elevate our status as money is today. We’d all want to improve our score and make it into the top 1% of the population’s happy people.
We’re fixated on wealth because it’s measurable whereas happiness is hidden, but if that curtain was unveiled and our happiness became public knowledge then it would have a seismic effect on how we live our lives.
Food for thought.
Go read the rest of the article. And have a great weekend!
From Monevator
Asset allocation quilt: winners and losers of the past ten years – Monevator
Wanted: dead not alive – Monevator [Moguls members]
From the archive-ator: Passive investing and stock market crashes – Monevator
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view click through to read the article. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing to sites you visit a lot.
As Trump tariffs near, world braces for stock market spillover – Bloomberg via Yahoo
Two hundred UK companies sign up for permanent four-day work week… – Independent
…with staff reportedly rejuvenated by the shorter week, says one firm – BBC
Shoplifting hits all-time high in England and Wales – Independent via Yahoo
New homes fall again in government’s first six months – BBC
Ticking stamp duty timebomb sees house sales rise 12%… – This Is Money
…but price momentum is stalling out – Nationwide
[‘Under fire’] St James’s Place hits record £190bn in assets – FT Adviser
British ‘industrial aristocracy’ Dowlais joins exodus from London market – Standard
Five key impacts of Brexit five years on… – BBC
…but the individual stories like this one all add up, too – BBC
Norway’s wealth fund hits $300K per citizen [Whereas we got a house price boom] – Sherwood
Rachel Reeves going for growth (allegedly) mini-special
Better late than never? Reeves talking a big game on housebuilding… – Guardian
…and boosting economic growth by unshackling pension schemes… – BBC
…and a third runway at Heathrow… – Sky News
…oh, and apparently adding £78bn to economy through Oxbridge links – BBC
…but will this deflect comparisons to 1976? [Podcast] – Long Time In Finance
Products and services
Here’s why Vanguard isn’t getting into Bitcoin ETFs – Vanguard
Five things a mortgage expert would never do – Which
Should you fix your cash savings rate ahead of cuts? – This Is Money
You can get up to £3,000 cashback when you transfer your pension to Interactive Investor. Terms and fees apply. – Interactive Investor
‘Barbell’ effect helps fixed income newbies usurp traditional bond funds – FT
Should you buy breakdown insurance with your car insurance? – Which
Big banks ignoring ISA rules on opening multiple accounts – This Is Money
How to work out the best UK gym membership deals – Guardian
Open an account with low-cost platform InvestEngine via our link and get up to £100 when you invest at least £100 (T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine
Lloyds in climbdown over Saba-related platform voting – This Is Money
Why an inter-rail trip across Europe should be your next holiday – Standard
Homes for sale with fabulous kitchens, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
What explains the gulf between the US and the rest? – Verdad and Goldman Sachs
Would you leave your children out of your will? [Search result] – FT
The benefits of tracking safe withdrawal rate changes over time – Morningstar
Bill Gross: lessons from an investing career – FT
What makes a good index fund? [US but relevant] – Morningstar
Master and Commander – 3652 Days
Coffee badging: working or shirking? – Guardian
ETFs increase the efficiency of markets, new study shows – FT
News you can’t use – The Joint Account
How, when, and why to talk to your kids about money – Tim Maurer
Margin of too much safety – A Wealth of Common Sense
Small businesses can transform your wealth – Next Big Idea Club
Higher gilt yields mini-special
Despite volatile borrowing costs, UK pensions see ‘nice opportunity’ – CNBC
Active fund managers also enjoying the higher gilt yields… – Interactive Investor
…though they could add £2,800 a year to new mortgage bills – This Is Money
Naughty corner: Active antics
Tom Slater: manager of Scottish Mortgage trust [Podcast] – B.T.B.S. via Apple
Is Wall Street ready to stay up all night? – FT
Pitting the dividend hero trusts against inflation – Interactive Investor
Wait, past performance predicts future fund returns? – Basis Pointing
Another look at the Microstrategy Bitcoin biz model – Forbes
Should you buy, hold, or fold Fundsmith Equity? – Trustnet
Kindle book bargains
Saving Time by Jenny Odell – £0.99 on Kindle
The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb – £0.99 on Kindle
Good With Money by Emma Edwards – £0.99 on Kindle
Number Go Up: Inside Crypto… by Zeke Faux – £0.99 on Kindle
Environmental factors
China passes 2030 renewables target six years early – Semafor
Can London’s rivers be swimmable within ten years? – BBC
The rise of plant poaching [Search result] – FT
California’s electricity conundrum – Klement on Investing
Mission to save willow tit from extinction – BBC
Thousands of trees planted in Devon to start creation of Celtic rainforest – Guardian
Robot overlord roundup: brought to you by DeepSeek
A DeepSeek FAQ – Stratechery
And everything else you need to know – Exponential View
Deep Impact… – Where’s Your Ed At
…versus the most important moment in history is now – Uncharted Territories
DeepSeek punctures US big tech’s bubble: analysts respond – Tech Crunch
The real DeepSeek revelation: the market doesn’t understand AI – Semafor
OpenAI cries foul – Gary Marcus
The Vatican has something to say about AI too – Vatican
We will have to learn to live with machines that can think [Search result] – FT
AI haters build tarpits to trap AI scrapers that ignore robots.txt – Ars Technica
Former OpenAI safety researcher brands rate of change ‘terrifying’ – Guardian
Off our beat
How to feel bad and be wrong – Experimental History
Why the architecture world hates The Brutalist – Guardian
Microsoft should call time on the Xbox – Sherwood
How come the future hasn’t arrived yet? [Podcast] – Faster, Please
Food companies plan to make a fortune from weight-loss drugs – Sherwood
How to fall asleep fast and stay that way – GQ
“I don’t want to buy a £4 coffee just so I can use the loo” – BBC
Fix three broken things – Raptitude
And finally…
“To make money, you must first survive.”
– Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Skin in the Game
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