Money Musings 💭 does Bill Gates have “enough” money? 🤔
A couple of weeks ago, in a keynote talk, I shared one of the most impactful realizations I’ve ever had -
It’s already more than enough. Or it’s never going to be enough.
Now I want to qualify this - this only applies to those of us who have our needs met. We have enough food to eat, a roof over our heads, and we are safe.
But if our needs are met, we get to make this choice.
There’s a new docu-series on Netflix called “Inside Bill’s Brain.” It’s about Bill Gates’ story and the amazing work the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is doing. But what stood out to me the most was that in one episode Bill has to ask his friend for money. He’s also stressed out about the budget on a project and struggles to work on making his dollars go farther.
He has over $100 BILLION dollars and he’s having similar conversations about money.
Lottery winners have 4x the bankruptcy rate of the average population. That means people who win tens of millions of dollars (sometimes hundreds) don’t have enough money to fund their lifestyles.
I know most of us are pretty far away financially from Bill Gates and lottery winners (to say the least ) but if it's not enough for them...
It’s already more than enough. Or it’s never going to be enough.
It’s worth going through the exercise of trying to figure out how much money would be enough for you. How much money would you have to have to not want for anything else? Take a few minutes and map it out.
And it’s not just about spending. When I go through this exercise, I’m making some major lifestyle upgrades (hello chef and house manager !) but I’m also starting foundations and businesses and my impact is correlated to how much money I have.
Once we get over how depressing this is (and give yourself time! ), this realization is actually hugely liberating. It’s a hack to let go of the rat race and escape acquisition culture. It’s permission to stop keeping up with the Joneses’.
For those of you who know me, you know I’m ALL about us getting paid - earning more money and investing in the things that are important to us. We still want to go after it and we deserve it. It’s just not going to be the financial and life fix most of us think it will be.
I know this is a very different way of thinking, so I encourage you to reflect on it and share your thoughts! And I’d love to hear if it resonates with you.
Money Move of the Week
Calculate what you “really” earn. Many of us think of our salary as the amount of money we actually earn, so we plan accordingly. Unfortunately (or fortunately - yay streets and schools) what we get to keep is a very different number. In order to map out a realistic plan, we want to use the number that actually hits our bank account. You can login and see what amount has hit your bank account over the last few paychecks (sometimes there are a couple different amounts) or use a payroll calculator to see where it’s going.
You Gotta See This
As a woman, and even more so as a new-ish mom, I’ve experienced the burden of invisible labor and mental load (side note: if you want a beautiful description, this cartoon is SO good). Separately, as a money coach, I’ve seen my and many of my clients’ bank balances grow as we prepare more meals at home. It can be a game-changer for our finances (and health!). But what does it take? This viral essay by Zoe Fenson breaks down what actually goes into meal prep and how that responsibility falls on the women.