Mar 10 2009
Money? Is “Enough” Enough?
All things are relative. When it comes to money, this is especially true.
As a kid, that $10.00 allowance each week feels really great in your pocket. The sky’s the limit. You can save and buy anything you want. As a teenager, getting a job to buy and maintain a car, date your best girl and save something for college becomes the measure against which a job’s salary is calculated.
Once you join the world’s workforce, your salary and the benefit package, savings plan, all come into focus. Being single, only responsible for yourself, you might be feeling flush. You have enough… maybe— remember all things are relative.
When you throw in marriage, kids, new car, house, education, travel… “How much is enough” becomes a whole different issue. How much money do you really need, —do you want? How much money is enough?
I’ve known people who are happy with a salary others would consider under the poverty level. They pride themselves on how little they need to enjoy life. Not just survive, but thoroughly enjoy living.
On the other end of the spectrum is the fellow who works on Wall Street, makes well over a million dollars each year and is still panicked because he can barely pay his bills. His lifestyle more than exceeds his income.
People and their money are fascinating. Some save, some spend. Some live within their means, others can’t possibly do so. Recently a woman I call the Coupon Queen appeared on the Oprah show. Stephanie Nelson from CouponMom.com took great pride in sharing how she saves hundreds of dollars food shopping every week. She thrives on saving money. It’s a game for her.
At the same time there have been dozens of reports in the media about people trying all kinds of schemes to get ahead – money wise. They steal from others and keep it all for themselves. The millions they already have is never enough. And getting more and more becomes an obsession.
Money itself is not the issue. How we think about money, how we use it to manage our lives is all relative to the value we give it.
And that value is determined by your answer to this question:
How much money is enough money for you?
Enough money for me means being able to pay my bills on time, having enough to take a nice trip every few years and also having enough so that I can contribute to nonprofits who are helping those who have far less than I have both here and around the world. If push came to shove, I’d do without the travel so I could donate to charity.
What really makes me crazy is the executives at places like the MSPCA, who claim they are passionate about the organization’s cause yet think they need salaries of over $200,000. How can you be passionate about a cause but not be willing to work to further that cause unless you are paid salaries that seriously deplete the group’s ability to care for animals? Those salaries are part of the reason they are now closing animal shelters.
I agree with your gripe. A lot of non-profits who work to eradicate poverty or help with those in need have exec directors with salaries that are way into six or seven figures. (Remember the United Way scandal?)