touchstone

Money is a peculiar issue. There's that (really) common story about how you work your ass off the whole day, to earn money to pay the rent of your house, which you hardly stay in anyway because you're too busy out at your office earning money. What's the point?

The (most common) thing that prevents you from living your dream is money, but it's funny how sometimes the dream is to acquire the money itself. Which really is your goal? What stirs a desire in you?

What is your "touchstone"?

1. Being rich for rich's sake.
2. Owning your own yacht.
3. Sailing around the world.

Which is it? I've been told that number 1 is the least common; when you interview rich people, they always have a purpose for their money - they use the money to carry out all the things they want to do, whether it's supporting their favorite charity organization, or paying for their kids' college tuition, or buying a brand new house to live comfortably in. It's always somewhat practical.
Is your goal really just to "own the yacht"? Or take another step back, and just "own the money"? Is your goal only just to be rich, and live a miserly life in order to obtain it? What is the definition of a life of quality?

Do you hang on to the money as a form of security; does the sheer number of possibilities thrill you?

I think the number 1s are just overloaded on practicality. You never know what will happen, if suddenly there's a huge medical bill to pay, or whatever extremity that might occur - kinda like the 'rainy day' mentality. There's no reason to think practicality's a bad thing - but should you just carry out your dream anyway and let the money take care of itself? Money is replaceable but opportunities aren't. People always look down on the number 1s because they seem like the deluded ones, the ones who lose the sight of the big picture. Regardless, yeah it's still true: money is made to be used.

But when? (!?!?!?!?!!?!??!!)

Lessons of value and worth......... it's so hard to remain thrifty in college, always having to explain yourself when you prefer to save money rather than, say, spend on a $5.00 cup of frozen yoghurt, without having people judge you or jump into conclusions about your background.