Weekend Reading: 2,500 Years of Thinking About “How Much is Enough?”
This article appears as part of Casey Weade's Weekend Reading for Retirees series. Every Friday, Casey highlights four hand-picked articles on trending retirement topics and delivers them straight to your email inbox. Get on the list here.
Asking yourself “How much is enough?” throughout certain points in life might lead to an answer that’s a moving target. However, when it comes to wealth, when do you know if you have truly reached financial independence – or your “enough”?
READ THE ARTICLEHere, various philosophers and thinkers throughout history offer their unique perspectives:
📌 Lao Tzu: Emphasizes the idea that realizing you have enough is a sign of true wealth, but cautions against seeking fulfillment in external comparisons and materialism.
📌 Adam Smith: Suggests your pursuit of wealth should not compromise your moral virtues and that happiness should not be equated with the accumulation of wealth.
📌 Henry David Thoreau: Advocates for simplicity and appreciating life's fundamental joys, versus constantly pursuing more.
📌 Jacob Needleman: Discusses the connection between your understanding of money and your search for meaning in life, stressing the importance of inner transformation and reflection on your relationship with money.
📌 Lynne Twist: Introduces the concept of sufficiency, emphasizing that it's not about simplicity, but about adopting a mindset that there will always be "enough," leading to a richer and more meaningful life.
📌 Mark C. Taylor: Advises reorienting your understanding of wealth to prioritize genuine human experiences and relationships.
Your definition of “enough” is inherently personalized to you. However, by engaging in self-reflection, conscious spending and shifting your view of money from a stock to seeing it as a flow, you can gain more clarity to focus on what truly matters most.