@mcnado @LJ This is exactly what I think. I was fortunate a little over 20 years ago to be earning more money than I could spend. It wasn't anywhere near what these guys bring in, but it helped me to understand that there is an "enough" when it comes to income. These people have no idea of what "enough" is.
Oct 21, 2026, 10:25 AMI think there's also a 'too much'. The Paradox of Choice was caught up in the reproducibility crisis, but there's at least a kernel of truth. Too many constraints make people unhappy, but no constraints also make people unhappy. And, above a certain level of wealth, you're basically living in constant FOMO: everything that you do comes with a huge opportunity cost because there are so many things that you could be doing instead of whatever you're doing.
I'm curious what level this kicks in. A couple of million is enough that you can get the kind of income most people have with a job, but without having to work. Assuming a 5% return, two million gives you £100K/year to live on, which (if you don't have large obligations like a mortgage) lets you live comfortably, but with the same set of constraints as a bunch of other people. When you get to something like £30M, your income £1.5M/year at a 5% return. That's enough that you can buy a house in cash every year. You can travel anywhere in the world, in comfort, on a whim and stay for as long as a local immigration lets you. You can afford to employ a few skilled people full time to work on things that you care about.
Above that? What are you even going to do with money? You either start becoming massively obsessed with retaining and increasing your wealth, or you live paralysed by the thought of all of the things that you can easily afford to do but don't have time to do. I suspect it's incredibly hard to be happy with that much wealth.
@david_chisnall @mcnado @LJ What I'm seeing in these people is that they just keep buying shit that they don't need or maybe even want. For example, how many homes can a person use? For a while, when I was married, we had three modest homes. One was an off the grid cabin; super modest. It was a huge pain in the ass to manage and use them. Now imagine the superrich folks with giant mansions all over the world. (1/2)
Why? How much time could they possibly spend in each one?
Could I be happy with that much wealth? Yes, but because I would give so much of it away. The pleasure would be in seeing my money help other people. Once my needs and desires were fulfilled, what else is there? Helping other people, obviously. Bill Gates understands this. Warren Buffett understands this. Why can't people like Bezos and Musk? (2/2)
@david_chisnall @mcnado @LJ