What Happens When We Believe We Have Enough Money

(Keep an eye out for my upcoming book The Doctors Guide to Finding Joy in Your Work. We can all use a little more joy in our lives and this book will help attain it.)

Money is a lot like oxygen. When we have enough, we don’t think about it. When we feel we do not have enough, we can’t stop thinking about it. Imagine a SCUBA diver who has a full tank, verses one who is out of air. The first is swimming around enjoying the scenery. The latter is looking for his dive buddy with wide eyes or frantically swimming to the surface. 

I have noticed a distinct difference between those who realize they have “Enough” money and those who are still trying to acquire “Enough.” Whether we feel we have an insufficient monthly income or an insufficient bank account, the effect is the same. Those who feel they have enough cruise around enjoying life while those who feel they need “more” are uptight about money and frequently make choices that will save/make more money, rather than make them happier.

Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, was allegedly at a party when someone mentioned to him that the billionaire host of the party made more money in a single day as a hedge fund manager than Heller made from the entire revenue of his popular book. Heller is reported to have said, “Yes, but I have something he will never have…Enough.” Even billionaires can think they don’t have enough.

John D. Rockefeller, at a time when he was thought to be the world’s richest man, was once asked “How much money is enough?” He replied, “Just a little bit more.”

So don’t think that not having enough is only a problem for the poor. Anyone at any income level or net worth can have the feeling that they do not yet have enough. Those who have a feeling that they lack enough are often on an unhealthy quest for more.

Here are some of the characteristics I have noticed that differentiate those who know they have enough from those who believe they need more. 

Saving/earning money is a high priority for those who lack enough

We once had a couple visit us while passing through on vacation. I asked them what they would like to do while they were in town. He pulled out a large entertainment/coupon book with attractions offering a discount. He was only interested in doing the things that were in the book. If he didn’t have a coupon, he wasn’t interested. 

I told him about a great opportunity to see something special in the area. He loved the idea. Unfortunately, his coupon book didn’t include the event, so he had to pass, even though it cost less money than many of the discounted things in his book. He missed a great opportunity because he limited his fun to just the things that he could get at a discount using a coupon.

I have seen people uproot their families and move to another state or country simply to save money on taxes. Proximity to family, friends, and services took a back seat to getting a better deal on taxes. Some of these people were earning millions a year, but millions a year still wasn’t enough. Uprooting their family could make them even more.

Letting alleged bargains control all decisions is a poor way to live our lives. 

More interest in things that bring happiness

Those who feel they have enough tend to spend their money on things that make them happy and are not concerned about how the spending affects their savings or earning power.

When I was saving for retirement (didn’t have enough yet) I often found myself looking at options that were the cheapest. After I retired, I focused more on the options that I would like the best. We took a vacation to the Chicago area and decided to take the train from Oregon to Chicago. Unlike a airplane, the train takes more than a few hours to make the journey. We chose to get a sleeper room for the journey as it would be much more comfortable than sleeping in a chair. Although the train journeywas longer and more expensive than flying, it offered something new to experience. We chose experience over bargain. I unfortunately seldom made that choice when I was still saving for retirement (chasing enough).

More interest in being debt free

Those who are feeling they don’t have enough are constantly borrowing money to get things they want, especially if they can justify it by saying they are using interest rate arbitrage to do it.

But once enough is realized, the interest rate arbitrage game loses its luster. There is very little to be gained by playing the low interest rate borrowing game. When we take the time to calculate what we really earn by playing the game, it is just a drop in the bucket compared to our net worth.

Interest rate games are often only in our mind. Like believing a home mortgage is a tax deduction. In rare cases, we can get a tax deduction for the interest we pay on our home mortgage. But almost every time someone brings this up, I ask them if they used the standard deduction on their taxes last year, and the answer is usually yes. Since the standard deduction was raised, about 90% of Americans use the standard deduction. Which means they get no deduction for their home mortgage interest. Even though they use the standard deduction, they often still feel they get a tax break on their mortgage interest. 

Early in my career I paid off all but one of my student loans. It was a 3% loan, and I didn’t want to pay it off because I could earn more by investing the money. My wife pointed out how much we would benefit from keeping the loan. The loan was down to about $4,000 and we had enough money in our checking account to pay it off. If we invested the money and made 10%, the 7% difference would amount to $280, which would then get taxed. But in reality, I probably wouldn’t get around to investing the $4,000 and it would just sit in our checking account and not actually earn the money for the arbitrage. I finally realized it was not worth playing the game I thought was so important to our future. We paid off the loan.

When we feel we have enough, the security of being debt free is more desired than the small amount of money we think we might earn by playing the low interest debt game. Peace of mind is more important than earning a small amount of money that won’t make a difference in the long run.

More generous giving

Once we feel we have enough for our needs, we can be more generous in helping others with their needs. When I first started earning a living, as a surgical intern, I was not tithing. I got married only a few months into my internship and my new bride wanted us to tithe. I didn’t feel like we had enough money to tithe. I had a “we don’t have enough” mentality. But she felt we had enough.

The reality was we were living on only half of our income and we saved the other half. If we had enough to save half of our income, then we clearly are in the “enough” group and we had enough to give 10% to the church. She was right. We did not miss the money when we tithed. 

She made me realize that we did have enough, even though we were not wealthy yet. We maxed out my company retirement plan, filled our IRA accounts, and still had money left over to help others. It is possible to be generous, save for the future, and live a nice life, even on a resident’s income. But only when we realize we have enough.

Live a reasonable lifestyle, save some money for the future, and be generous with others. When we do these things, we will always feel like we have enough. We do not need to live a lifestyle supported by borrowing money for bigger houses, more expensive cars, and lavish vacations. The habit of borrowing money for things we want is a tough habit to break. But it becomes much easier when we realize that we have enough. 

Enjoy your life every day. Someday may never come. You have enough so start behaving like you believe it. If you want more on this topic, pick up a copy of The Doctors Guide to Eliminating Debt, as the final chapter is called The Finish Lineand deals with the concept of enough.