They say that money can't buy happiness and I certainly agree. However, did you ever stop to think about what money can, indeed, buy? Here is a list of ten things that money can help you buy:
1. Money can buy peace of mind. Do you have trouble sleeping at night because you are worried about bills or your current job status? Well having enough money in the bank to not worry about your job for a year or two will let you sleep like a baby.
2. Money can buy you comfort. Do you live in a small cramped apartment with two kids and neighbors above you constantly screaming? Money can allow you to put a 20 percent down payment on a comfortable, quiet, home in a safe neighborhood.
3. Money can buy you a reliable and safe car. Do you drive a late model vehicle that is constantly breaking down or in need of monthly maintenance? Is your vehicle equipped with anti-lock brakes, stability control, and at the least 4-6 airbags? Money can allow you to buy a quality used (or new) vehicle from a reliable manufacturer.
4. Money can buy you a future. Would you like to not work and live well at some future point? If the answer is yes, then money will let you prepare for a future without a boss and making income without working. In short, you can use money to buy stock, mutual funds, index funds, CDs, etc.
5. Money can buy you confidence. Do you swallow your pride and work for an organization or boss that you do not respect or just plain hate? Well, if you have money in a bank account money can give you the courage to walk away from a bad situation and start fresh.
6. Money can buy you the ability to give. Do you wish you could help a not so well off sister or brother or contribute to your local Red Cross? Well, money can help you be more charitable and giving.
7. Money can buy you time. Do you often find yourself wishing you could spend more time exercising, reading, learning to cook, traveling, spending time with family, et. al. ? Retiring early by way of making the right financial moves in life can give you the time to do the above.
8. Money can buy you nice food. Do you clip coupons to the point that you will not buy something you are craving? Do you buy sub par ingredients and generic store brands even when you know quality is poor? Money can help enjoy great meals (including wine).
9. Money can buy you experiences. Do you not travel because you're worried about airline fares and hotel prices? Do you decide often against a trip into the city to enjoy the opera and a glass of champagne? Money can help you expand your mind and bring you places beyond the town you were born in.
10. Money can buy you opportunity. Do you wish you could buy a home in today's economic environment because interest rates are low and home prices have been dramatically reduced? Do you wish you could buy GE stock because it's under $20 and inevitably will rebound to record highs in the near future? Money can help you leverage opportunities that would normally not be able available in ordinary times
Great post! Money may not be able to buy true happiness, but it can make life less stressful, more enjoyable and comfortable if you already have the happiness. :)
Thanks, Jen. Indeed, I think stress can obviously prevent folks from leading productive lives (including trying to manage personal finances).
Having money does not equal being happy, but being financially independent can help folks lead a better life.
Aside from happiness, in your thorough list of things that money can buy, in all that it amounts to, I vaguely recognise a reference to quality of life which I take it, as being the goal in every individual's mind. The quality in life every individual seeks and pursues.
The matter is, that quality is a value by itself, for all its instances, in all the things we do in our lives. Measuring it, counting it with money or in any way connecting it with money, cheapens it. Quality is trivialised.
The quality that money can buy, is shallow, it divides people. Quality that is not shared, not being freely available, for everyone to enjoy, becomes an estranged goal not worth pursuing. Quality sought from the narrow perspective of money, renders individuals ignorant of one another, any gains realised through that path are short-term, shortsighted, ephemeral, trivial and unfulfilling.
It isolates individuals, cocoons them, withdraws them, estranged units in their communities. "Success is death", was wisely said, in a comment I read recently.
The goal for quality of life can only materialise, can be achieved, if it is set upon and pursued from within the wider goal of quality of life for all individuals, in the communities we are part of, and live in. This is not something that can be achieved by money.
Quality of life can not be regarded as a commodity, being bought and sold of, off the self.
Money debases quality ... trivialises it ... cheapens it ...