I have built up a pretty decent surplus of money for my age. It's not because I deprive myself of things. I buy everything I want. I just happen to not want much. It's all about level-setting.
Spending little money frees up your life from having to earn a lot of it. That trade-off starts looking pretty attractive after you've been chained to a desk for a decade.
Just like most things in life, I feel like it is all about the right balance.
Penny pinching and then dying a millionaire sounds awful, because what's even the point of having all those millions if you lived like you had nothing the whole time? Just a number on some imaginary scorecard?
Wasting away all your earnings and living a life of "luxury" with nothing in your savings is at least just as bad, because if something catastrophic happens, you got nothing.
Gotta strike that happy balance, where you get to enjoy the money, yet still have a substantial chunk of it saved.
> Penny pinching and then dying a millionaire sounds awful, because what's even the point of having all those millions if you lived like you had nothing the whole time?
Building generational wealth for your progeny.
GP said their grandfather died a multimillionaire. That money can go to his children; managed well over their lifetime it will double several times over. And learned frugality on their part means they have an even greater sum to hand to any children they have (like GP!)
And if a catastrophe struck - be it a local one like joblessness or divorce, or a global financial crisis, whatever - grandfather knows that his austerity guaranteed his children shelter, food, and education in the future. That's a powerful reason to make decisions. Hell, in our animal brains, that's probably one of the most powerful drivers of decisions: what should I do to benefit my family?
>GP said their grandfather died a multimillionaire. That money can go to his children; managed well over their lifetime it will double several times over.
The point is, is it worth it if you do not get to enjoy even a part of that at all? What if you don't have children? Assuming there is nothing after death, the personal result of being a penny pinching millionaire vs. just not having that much money at all would be the same.
Your assumption is that cheap living equals unhappiness/misery/etc whereas most unhappiness is caused by the uncertainty of not knowing where your next meal is coming from.
Presumably he had a good family/friends, which is what matters, no?
Investing in your family's future is an incredibly noble/selfless thing to do, it takes real character.
Presumably their grandmother was alive when she was gambling the money away, so I do not see how a will would have helped here :) But a good point regardless, most people with any kind of saving should have one drawn up.
