I've been struggling for a while with this and I started to wonder if anyone else feels similarly and/or has ways to combat it.
I have a good job with a pension and contribute about 15% of my gross pay towards retirement (additional pension contribution/457/Roth IRA). My emergency fund is fully funded and I have significant equity in my home. So suffice to say I'm in a pretty good place financially, I could probably afford to put away more, but that's where my problem lies.
As a family we make sure to live within our means. I pack a lunch every day, my wife takes pride in cooking healthy low budget meals, we drive used cars, etc, etc.
Despite (or maybe because of) all of this, I can't help but feel unfulfilled. I see people driving nice cars, with bigger houses, going on extravagant trips etc and I get jealous and a little depressed. The rational part of my brain knows that my chosen career means that, while I'll be comfortable, I'll never be rich and that I'm making the correct responsible choices right now. The emotional part of my brain is telling me that this sucks, I deserve nice things and you only live once. Putting money into my Roth IRA just doesn't feel as good as when I (albeit extremely rarely) treat myself to a new sweater/phone/whatever.
So my question is how do I reconcile the two? What do you do when doing the "right thing" doesn't feel as good as the "wrong thing"?
Submitted March 28, 2018 at 04:40PM by wef1983 https://ift.tt/2DZRysF
