In the last eighteen months some long term investments have paid off, such that I'm now sitting on paper profits equal to 6 or 7 times my annual salary. It's a lot of money, for me. And the advisability of having only paper profits and not realizing the gains isn't really the point of this post. Trust me, I know.
The point is, in the last six months I've noticed my attitude shifting toward an incessant urge to spend. I have certainly bought a few things I needed. Fine, good. But at this point I don't need for anything. The possessions my brain is screaming at me to buy are trinkets and trifles.
More generally, I have noticed a lack of financial discipline bordering on nihilism. What's $400, who gives a damn. Why bother saving when you could scrimp all year and only save an amount equal to 1% of your assets?
I feel myself being corrupted in a way that I don't think is healthy in the long term. The decisions that I made years prior that have allowed me to reach this point, are different from the decisions I'm now making.
There must be other people here who have had a similar experience and figured out ways to live wisely with (subjectively) a lot of money. Can you offer an advice? Can you share mental processes that you've found helpful? Or can you even just share your own story so that I can know I'm not the only one to have been here?
Perhaps the most perplexing question for me; how do you rationalize/continue with work or following a budget when a 4 hour market fluctuation can cause you to lose/gain money that's equal to a month's salary? It's a very strange and not altogether pleasant thing.
Tl;Dr --- I've accumulated a sum of money and I'm beginning to act like a fool. I don't want a fool's life. How to correct course?
Submitted September 20, 2021 at 08:08AM by Displaced_Invest https://ift.tt/3hRBmjM
