Just How Much Is Enough?

A foundational question about income and wealth is "How much is enough?" As it turns out, the answer - and the definition of a rich life - is largely personal.  [Browser View]( [Liberty Through Wealth]( Just How Much Is Enough? Alexander Green, Chief Investment Strategist, The Oxford Club  One of the foundational questions about income and wealth is how much is enough? As it turns out, the answer is largely personal.  Today Alexander Green explains why the definition of a rich life varies so much from person to person - and what wealth really means.  [Wait, what happened to O'Reilly's money?](  [Bill O'Reilly Video Thumbnail]( [Bill O'Reilly was the highest-paid news host of all time. You'll never believe what happened to his money. Details here.](  [Alexander Green]  One of the foundational questions about money is one that few agree on: How much is enough? In our increasingly competitive world, some believe that money is the way we measure competence, success, even our worth as individuals. This isn't just wrongheaded, in my view. It's offensive. There are plenty of folks doing incredibly skilled and underpaid work as teachers, coaches, social workers, nurses or soldiers, to name just a few. Many feel that there is a gap between how they live and the way they should be living - and that money would make up the difference. And perhaps it would. Money is a linchpin issue in all our lives. We want and need things. It takes money to get them. Some live openly with the accumulation of money as a primary goal. Others think it isn't important - or shouldn't be. Yet millions harbor a chronic fear that they will never truly have enough - or be able to keep it. It's easy for those of us with money - even if we were born into modest circumstances - to forget what a struggle life can be without it. Studies show the majority of Americans spend almost everything they make, shouldering enormous stress as they live paycheck to paycheck. It's not just the poor and lower middle class, by the way. A realtor friend once told me I'd be shocked to discover how many neighbors in his gated community were "just two mortgage payments from the edge." Money can do great things and promote important causes. But it can also dissolve business partnerships, cause friction between family and friends, and end marriages. Even in households where the cash flow is ample, partners often fight over how much to spend, how much to save or how to invest. If you're reading an investment column like this one, you almost certainly have more money than most. (Or soon will.)  [Do You Own ANY 5G Stocks?]( [5G Design Graphic](CNN calls 5G "the lifeblood of the new economy." If you don't invest now, you'll regret it later. [Click here for details on the top 5G stock...](  Our primary concern here, of course, is not wages or savings, but wealth - and its successful management. So let's be clear in our terms. Wealth is not what you make. It's what you own: stocks, bonds, cash, real estate, precious metals and other financial assets. Most decide who is "rich" with a particular number: $1 million... or $3 million... or $20 million. I can tell you that as a kid growing up in a middle-class household, I thought anyone worth a million dollars was unspeakably rich. While that is still not an inconsequential sum, it is no longer rare. Thanks to inflation and our society's increasing affluence, a million-dollar net worth - total assets minus total liabilities of a million dollars or more - is now pedestrian. Market researcher Spectrem Group counted a record 11.8 million millionaire households in the U.S in 2018. That's 1 in 11. (And given the strong real estate and stock markets of the past year, the 2019 number will be even larger.) Are the folks in these millionaire households satisfied? Do they feel like they have enough? Not necessarily. According to a report from investment bank UBS, only 28% of Americans with $1 million to $5 million consider themselves wealthy. No matter what some people have, [they will consider it inadequate when they learn what others have](. (This is the defining impulse behind the growing "economic inequality" movement.) How much you "need," of course, is very much tied to where you live, the size of your family, your monthly overhead, and your desire to travel or enjoy the finer things in life. "The finer things" are hardly necessities, of course. I grew up without them and could easily live without them again. Indeed, many of my most enjoyable years were spent as an impecunious bachelor in my 20s. (Fortunately, some women don't care what kind of car you drive if you can work small miracles on the grill.) Bottom line: When it comes to how much is enough, only your own definition matters. My view is you're wealthy if you have the resources to live the way you want to live. Money unspent - capital - is power. It gives you the freedom to make choices, help others and enjoy what's most important to you. It's hard to argue with the words variously attributed to Mae West, Gertrude Stein and Sophie Tucker: "I've been rich and I've been poor - and believe me, rich is better." Good investing, Alex [Leave a Comment](  [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [share](mailto:?subject=A%20great%20piece%20from%20Liberty%20Through%20Wealth...&body=From%20Liberty%20Through%20Wealth:%0D%0A%0D%0A A%20foundational%20question%20about%20income%20and%20wealth%20is%20%22How%20much%20is%20enough?%22%20As%20it%20turns%20out,%20the%20answer%20-%20and%20the%20definition%20of%20a%20rich%20life%20-%20is%20largely%20personal.%0A%0D ?src=shared)  About Alex  Alexander Green is the Chief Investment Strategist of The Oxford Club. He heads Liberty Through Wealth, [The Oxford Communiqué](, The Insider Alert, The Momentum Alert and Oxford Microcap Trader. Alex is also the author of [four national bestsellers](.  [Tea Cup](  [The P-E-R-F-E-C-T Drink]( A simple, three-ingredient drink is stunning doctors. It blasts away cancer, inflammation, Alzheimer's, high blood pressure... and even erectile dysfunction. One glass of this delicious drink each morning is all it takes. [Click here for the simple recipe.]( SPONSORED  More From Liberty Through Wealth  [Elevator Shaft]( [Stock Market Fear... and How to Get Over It]( By Alexander Green Many people are afraid to invest because they don't understand how the market works, but they are missing out on the single best way of building wealth. [Wall Street]( [Don't Bet on This Top Wall Street Hedge Fund]( By Nicholas Vardy This high-profile hedge fund manager delivered an eye-popping 58.1% return last year, but here's why his fund is not a safe bet for wealth creation. [Smiling Colleagues]( [Make 3 People Smile Today]( By Mark Ford Charisma is an important skill for achieving success and a rich life. It doesn't come naturally to everyone, but luckily there's a simple way to be charming. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Liberty Through Wealth. To unsubscribe from Liberty Through Wealth, [click here](. Questions? Check out our [FAQs](. Trying to reach us? [Contact us here.]( Please do not reply to this email as it goes to an unmonitored inbox. To cancel by mail or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Liberty Through Wealth | Attn: Member Services | P.O. Box 932, Baltimore, MD 21203 North America: [1.877.806.4508]( | International: [+1.443.353.4610]( | Fax: [1.410.329.1923]( Website: [www.libertythroughwealth.com]( Keep the emails you value from falling into your spam folder. [Whitelist Liberty Through Wealth](. © 2020 The Oxford Club LLC All Rights Reserved [Oxford Club] The Oxford Club is a financial publisher that does not offer any personal financial advice or advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment for any specific individual. Members should be aware that although our track record is highly rated by an independent analysis and has been legally reviewed, investment markets have inherent risks and there can be no guarantee of future profits. The stated returns may also include option trades. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in their own securities recommendations to readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after online publication or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publications prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended by The Oxford Club should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. The information found on this website may only be used pursuant to the membership or subscription agreement and any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including on the world wide web), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of The Oxford Club, 105 W. Monument Street, Baltimore MD 21201.