It is no exaggeration to say that we live during the most wealthy time in human history. We can see examples of this wealth when we look at the huge mansions and expensive cars driven by millionaires.
However, we can also see displays of wealth while we are driving through a middle-class neighborhood or an upscale food district. Even cities seem to be competing against each other to see who can build the best school, library, or park.
Wealth is all around us.
Take me for example. Although I am a high school teacher who lives near Detroit, Michigan, I carry an iPhone in my pocket, drive a nice Honda Accord, and I can choose between a laptop or a desktop when I am typing this article to you. My wife and I both work and bring home steady paychecks that allow us to save, invest, and get out of debt. Our kids go to good schools and participate in a variety of sports and cultural activities. We even travel all over the country and have gone as far as Hawaii on our most recent vacation.
Like I said, wealth is everywhere and my family is a perfect embodiment of the wealth that is seen in our world today.
Or … maybe we aren´t …
Am I actually poor?
Since my wife and I are teachers, our incomes are pretty lousy. We haven´t seen many raises over the past few years. We are also being forced to pay for an increasing portion of our healthcare costs.
I carry an iPhone in my pocket, but it’s over two years old and definitely not the newest model. I drive an Accord, but I only spent $8,600 on it and it has a rebuilt title. My Chromebook is at least 4 years old and the apostrophe key doesn’t really work well.
Our kids go to public schools and they aren’t on all of the best travel teams in the area. Sure, we travel a lot, but we will hardly ever pay full price. Instead, we have to use travel hacking to get free or discounted flights and hotel rooms.
As you can see, my family is definitely NOT the perfect embodiment of wealth.
Maybe we are not poor, but we’re certainly not wealthy.
Right … ?
Mindset, not money
Or maybe it’s about more than just how much money we have.
My family is probably not wealthy based on the classic definition of wealth. We don’t own a country estate, drive late-model cars, or summer in the Mediterranean.
We don’t even go shopping a lot or own a bunch of brand new furniture.
Therefore, many people would say that we are not really wealthy. However, as a middle-class person who lives in the United States, it is my mindset that determines how wealthy I feel, not my money.
For instance …
If I walk into the grocery store with a $100 bill in my hand, I can take one of two approaches:
- “I only have $100, so I can’t really buy anything today.” -or-
- “I wonder how many great things I will be able to buy with this $100.”
If I’m driving a Honda Accord that costs $8,600, I can take one of two approaches.
- “I wish that I had a new car.” – or-
- “This car is great. It gets me everywhere that I need to go. It even has Bluetooth!”
There are always two different mindsets that we can have towards money.
The first mindset leads us to feel that we never have enough.
- “I’ll always be poor.”
- “I can never save.”
- “It’s impossible to retire nowadays.”
- “I’m waiting on someone else to help me.”
The second mindset leads us towards a life of abundance. A life of enough.
- “I love my house.”
- “I’m satisfied with the things I own.”
- “I’m able to put a bit of money aside each month.”
- “I can make extra money if I need it.”
It’s not only about the money that you have. Instead, it’s about your mindset and relationship towards it.
I could make $200,000 per year and still complain that it´s tough to get ahead. Or I could make $100,000 per year and believe that I have more than enough.
Which choice should I make?
How does your mindset impact how wealthy you feel? Let us know in the comments below.
And thanks for reading!
~Nathan
Let’s keep living a great life … with the help of money. So what’s next?
- You can travel for free by using rewards credit cards.
- You can get motivated and get out of debt.
- You can check out the next post or the previous post and continue to learn.
But no matter what you decide to do, let’s leave the ordinary behind and take action today!
10 Comments
Rick H
Great post, definitely your mindset is very important, I would be considered upper middle class by all measurements but there are times when I am walking through a store or mall and I get a sudden emptiness and overwhelming feeling of financial ruin, or a feeling of “poorness.” I am very conscious of the money that I spend and have my Iphone 6 and a 10 year old car but my bank accounts are fat and my debt is zero. But there are times when you realize how close to financial ruin you are and that when you compare yourself to people with “real” money all your net worth is not even the cost of a vacation to them. I am not a class war warrior we are extremely lucky to live in the USA where our standard of living is the best in the entire history of the world, So chin up and be thankful for the blessings we have and strive for more.
Life Before Budget
I agree that we should always be striving for more, but at the same time, be conscious of when we actually have ¨enough.¨ I also will never be compared with people who have ¨real¨ money … millions upon millions of dollars, but I am beginning to discover that I have enough.
Funny … I actually talk a bit about comparisons in next week´s post:)
Rick
I will look forward to next weeks article. I have a weird story about comparing. I lived in Indiana just fresh out of college and living in an upscale neighborhood by Indiana standards. At the time my house cost about 200k, My older brother hung around some extremely rich people and they all came into town for the final 4 NCAA basketball tournament, on their private jet, yes they own a private jet, not a prop plane but a jet. I was introduced to the “head” guy, the real money man in the group, and the first thing he asked me was, “how much was my house worth” I said about 200k, pretty proud for a guy fresh out of college, he said “that is not even the price of a good stereo system.” Needles to say I never liked him.
Life Before Budget
Wow! I wonder why that guy felt like he needed to prove his ¨superiority¨ to you. Obviously, everyone in his group knew that he had significantly more money than you, but he still had to prove that he was ¨better¨….
I also wonder if he still feels the need to show off the amount of money that he has now that he is a little bit older or if he has matured a little.
Erin
Love this article! Always a good reminder to be positive and thankful for what we do have.
Life Before Budget
Thanks! Since wealth is not tied to a specific dollar amount, then we will never be wealthy unless we first think that we are wealthy.
Kim @ The Frugal Engineers
I came across this realization over Thanksgiving, when an older relative was chiding me about using powdered milk. Her mindset was that was something her family did when her dad was out of a job, and that no one with money would choose to use powdered milk. My mindset was that we don’t have a lot of room in our fridge, and powdered milk lasts longer than store-bought gallon milk, so it was less wasteful in our household. It had nothing to do with the cost.
Life Before Budget
Fortunately for your older relative, that mindset doesn´t cost them too much money. However, we need to guard against mindsets that will cost us significant amounts of money. Saying stuff like ¨only poor people buy used cars¨ or ¨I would never send my child to a public school¨ can be very costly.
Kim @ The Frugal Engineers
Precisely. I grew up poor and am now in the “1%” for my age, and I have zero patience for snobbery. Especially considering how many of us are living paycheck to paycheck, there should be no shame in doing something for the purpose of improving your financial situation.
Life Before Budget
Exactly.
Congrats on the turnaround from poor to top 1%. It must have taken a lot of hard work to get there!