“Money often costs too much.” ―Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today, in most societies, the pursuit of wealth has become inevitable— almost as if the desire to be rich is already a forgone conclusion in our lives.
The prevailing view is that wealth is good, that it should be pursued, that material possessions and riches enhance our enjoyment in life, and that wealth provides opportunity to find greater fulfillment in life.
But recently, I have come to realize the pursuit of riches is based on a faulty premise. It is based on the incorrect rationale that the presence of money is always good—that it always brings benefit into our lives. This is not always the case.
Once our basic needs have been met, money contributes very little to our overall happiness and well-being. But more than that, there are actually a number of inherent dangers in possessing riches. Or maybe I should say, at the very least, there are better things to be than rich. And we’d live more fulfilled lives if we began chasing after them with as much intensity as we seek riches.
Consider just this short list of Things Better to Be Than Rich:
Content. Contentment is far more valuable than riches because whoever finds contentment is always satisfied. Money comes and goes—sometimes quickly. But contentment rises above our circumstance and offers happiness regardless of our financial state.
Generous. Jeff Shinabarger says it well, “Anything we find that is more than enough creates an immediate opportunity to make others’ lives better.” Our resources can accomplish great things in this world—but not if we keep them to ourselves.
Free. Jim Sollisch has recently come to this understanding. Often in our pursuit of wealth and bigger bank accounts, we sacrifice freedom. We think riches will provide greater freedom for our lives, but we rarely recognize how much freedom we have actually sacrificed in our attempt to simply find more of it.
Selfless. Choosing to live selfless lives that seek the benefit of others brings meaning, purpose, and lasting impact to our short lives. While living selfish, self-centered lives is neither attractive or fulfilling.
Honest. No compromises, no regrets. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and harmful desires. Given the choice, we should choose honesty, integrity, and character any day. It makes laying our head on the pillow each night that much sweeter.
Passionate. It is far greater to have a career and life we love waking up to in the morning than a high-paying job that brings no satisfaction, provides no positive contribution, and provokes no passion in our day.
Dependent. There is greater security to be found in lasting, trusting relationships than wealth. Dependence on others teaches us this truth. But even more importantly, it also allows us to experience the goodness of other people.
Compassionate. The statistics continue to hold true. The more wealth we obtain, the less compassion and empathy we feel towards those without. And as a result, the less we contribute.
Humble. Wealth often brings with it a certain level of pride—or at least, a more-necessary intentionality to remove prideful tendencies. Sometimes this pride comes from within and sometimes it is encouraged by others. Meanwhile, humility quietly calls us to embrace its hidden power and freedom. It would be a shame to miss it at the expense of riches.
Resourceful. Learning how to live with less is an important pursuit. It teaches us the value of the things right in front of us and forces us to appreciate them even more.
Connected. Riches do not result in deeper relationships. In fact, often times, they have the opposite effect. But intimate, connected relationships continue to provide the joy in our lives money can never produce.
Perseverant. Perseverance is a powerful characteristic that can only be discovered through trial. And while riches cannot remove every trial in life, they can often remove just enough to keep perseverance from ever taking root in our heart.
Happy. As I mentioned, once our basic needs have been met, money contributes very little to our overall happiness and well-being. Gratitude, generosity, and contribution produce far more. And that is the real goal: to live lives of joy and fulfillment and help others to do the same.
Now, please don’t misread me. I am not contending that those with riches cannot also be content, generous, humble, or connected. I know many incredibly generous people who could also be described as wealthy. And I would never contend that those without wealth are better simply by the nature of that qualification. Lastly, I would never confess to have arrived fully in any of the categories listed above.
But I do believe with all my heart the pursuit of riches can lead to great danger. It is not a pursuit to be automatically accepted as the wisest course of action for our lives. In fact, as soon as it is removed, we provide greater opportunity for these better things to be true in our lives. And there are indeed, far better things to be than rich.
Image: Daniele Zedda
Ken The Over-Thinker says
Hi Joshua – love your posts. My favourite one is “We’re all trading our lives for something – trade up.” I’m still personally struggling with the notion of wanting to be victorious and the notion of living a free minimalist life apart from that, but your blog is helping.
I would ask though that you also write a post clarifying the precise DANGERS of pursuing riches.
While I agree with Miss Growing Green on the need for financial independence (as opposed to exorbitant riches and crushing poverty), I also would have to disagree with Mathias – my position would be that while money is similar to a magnifying glass, since nearly every person struggles with generous and selfish impulses the majority of people are liable to change for the worse when rich – not because they’re bad people but that money makes giving in to foolish temptation (which we all do have, even the saints) much more easier.
If a wonderful person stays wonderful after inheriting riches, it just means that they still retain a large measure of self-control – admirable of course, but not every person who is good on the outside has fully accomplished that (you can never really fully know the thoughts and traumas and longings that people struggle with inside from their birth – Mathias’ hypothetical friendly, giving and poor person could still be in danger of being corrupted with riches, although we’d hope she wouldn’t have any problems. Simply asking “what would the motive be?” only reveals our lack of knowledge, not the non-existence of a motive).
I know myself well enough that if I got rich, while I am usually nice to people I could easily turn bad if there was enough money to let me do so. As my mother replied to my childhood question as to why some seemingly nice rich and famous people do drugs – “Because they can.”
Sorry for the long entry, but in closing I’d like Joshua to elaborate more on the dangers of pursuing riches (people like me tend to shut ourselves off from the “contentment, humility, integrity” talk as a case of “anybody can talk that talk”, but a list of reasons as to why pursuing and holding riches can actually HURT you most of the time might be more helpful).
Oh, and well said Eva. I personally struggle with lack of ambition, but I would think that if one is to be ambitious at work, be ambitious for Joshua’s notion of significance, with financial success as a pleasant bonus along the way (I’m on the hunt for a way to achieve financial independence through doing something highly significant in the process. I know it’s possible – I’ve recently read the works of Rabbi Harold Kushner, whose touching books have also become bestsellers – I would personally recommend “When all you’ve ever wanted isn’t enough” as a guide to living a significant life).
RunningMommy says
I really just don’t get why people can not catch on that money and stuff DOES NOT bring happiness. They strive for more, but don’t thrive. I have my own story to tell. One of my adult best friends, unfortunately, lost her father in a car accident. She has loads of money now and has steadily grown more and more unhappy and well quite nasty. She often lashes out at me, since I refuse to enter the rat race of our culture. My husband makes enough for us to have a nice home, food and clothing. I don’t need to be in the pursuit of money, stress, rushing everywhere, etc. to have Jimmy Choo shoes, granite countertops, expensive vacations and brand new vehicles. I prefer to spend my time with my children, helping with my husbands business, volunteering (giving back to the community), pursuing my own hobbies and regular physical activities and a bit a couponing :) . I have truly “enough”. Don’t people catch on that the wealthy, the famous, the powerful often lead decrepit lives, with drug over doses, and excesses of all kinds.
Especially, especially, in North American we have very few true needs (unmet) and many, many wants. This is not a matter of ambition, nor goals. But a condition of the heart and mind.
Marya says
I do not agree with “selflessness”! Selflessness in our society will result in being taken advantage of. It is just beautiful in speech and just in a perfect society.
Suzannah says
I disagree with this. Maybe some people will take advantage, but others will take what they need and maybe give more when they can. Case in point: the many people last night in Marietta, GA who went out in their 4WD vehicles to rescue strangers from their stranded vehicles, and the many others who welcomed stranded strangers into their houses overnight when they had to leave their cars.
A selfless act is the height of beauty. I have been the recipient of them, and I have been the giver of them. It isn’t just talk.
everlearning says
This has been extremely interesting – both the post and the replies. Lots of very important points brought up and debated (kindly, I might add, and I appreciate that). I think Joshua’s points are a very good place to start. But so much is not set in stone, nor predictable, nor can it be generalized (as Joshua pointed out). My experience: Most of my growing up years were in a middle-class family – my father worked hard to make ends meet and have some “extra” for small vacations, etc. My mom raised four children and did not work for pay outside the home. We were very, very happy. My father’s situation changed when he one day made a sale that changed his financial situation exponentially. We four kids didn’t know about it. Life didn’t change (not enough to really notice, anyway). When we understood as young adults (20s and early 30s) that my parents were very wealthy, we all asked why they didn’t buy a bigger house, move to a “better” neighborhood, do this and that with their money, etc. My father’s response: Having more money should not change you. It’s nice, but if you have character, live justly, share your resources, have compassion – all the important things – then the money shouldn’t make a difference except perhaps that you are able to share more, make a bigger difference, and yes, live more easily (but not necessarily with more stuff). That really made me think. I look at Fred Rogers, who lived a simple life and stayed in the same modest home after he made lots of money with his Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood TV program, books, etc. And he was happy. Warren Buffet lives in a modest, simple home because that’s all he wants in a home. He has nothing to prove by buying a larger, more prestigious home. My husband and I have been married 31 years and raised 4 children. I do not work outside the home for pay. We have done our best to live this same way of life, and we are very happy. Everyone we know would be shocked at how much money we have because we live a very simple life. We went through a period of accumulating stuff about 10-15 years ago and found it very unsatisfying when it was over, but it was a good lesson. I pass along many of Joshua’s posts to our grown children. I will say this, however: As much as I am trying to clear out and simplify my life and my home, we have some beautiful and memorable family heirlooms passed down through the generations. I realize these are just things, and if I had to give them up I would, and if they burned in a fire I wouldn’t go to pieces. They bring fond memories to both my husband and me, and our children have loved the stories that go along with them about their ancestors. It’s STUFF – I get that – but there’s no reason to get rid of them just to prove I’m trying to be a minimalist. And I must include here that Joshua Becker NEVER says that it is necessary to give up everything to be part of the minimalist movement. We all minimize differently and that’s the beauty of it. None of this STUFF is more important to me than God, family, friends, and helping others (with money AND my time). I keep it all in perspective and try my best to live right. Sometimes I think the word Minimalist can be confusing. If I talk about it, people think I’m going to sell everything I have and move into one of those tiny houses – NOT A CHANCE!! Or, they think I’m not doing it “right” because I still have things in my house. To me, it means getting rid of whatever is getting in my way of living a meaningful life in the way I understand meaningful. I was with someone the other day who talked about what it means to him to be rich: R.I.C.H. – Respect, Integrity, Compassion, Humility. Seems to me to be a good way to be rich. I’m on the minimalism bandwagon, but having money and possessions doesn’t throw me off the wagon!
Mathias says
Emmanuel, I am unsure if I understood your question correctly. As I see it, material wealth is not the problem. The person with the material wealth is the problem (or the solution).
I would also like to comment on Joshua´s comment. He wrote “While money is morally-neutral and not evil in and of itself, it does have a long track-record of changing people”. I agree that money is neutral, it´s a human creation. It becomes what we make of it. But still, Joshua, do you mean that a friendly, giving and poor person who becomes materially wealthy suddenly has the potential of becoming a horrible, non-giving, evil person? I can´t see how that could even happen. Why would that nice, friendly and giving human being suddenly become the opposite? What is his/her motive? Wouldn´t that character trait have been shown far in advance?
As I see it, if you are a giving human being while being poor then why would you suddenly become less so when becoming materially wealthy?
Look at Oprah Winfrey, she is known to be a very giving human being and she is materially wealth by anyones measure. Why is it that she is not stingy with her money? Obviously she hasn´t changed to the worse. Is there anything in her younger years that somehow points to her being the opposite of what she is now? Or has she been consistent? And if she has been consistent over the years, is she some sort of an anomaly?
I am not trying to make you look bad, Joshua, I am just asking. I am confused. If money changes people to something worse, then Oprah would not be a giving human being. No? Logic would say that if rich people equals greedy, then obviously Oprah has to be greedy, which she does not seem to be. According to me, logic in this case is not a constant, it is a variable. The variable being: the person possessing the money/material wealth. Each person, though, does seem to depend on a certain constant. That constant being “character trait”. Each person can change his or her character trait as long as it is not biologically inherit in the person (i e mental disorder etc). Does money change that character trait or not? Well, that is the question. How would that happen. Yes, you can get used to having the comfort that material wealth brings with it. At the same time, does that comfort change a human being to the better or the worse? And if so, how do you prove it? Some people seem to be comfortable giving at the same time.
I may be wrong, you (Joshua) may be wrong as well. Until we can prove, without a shadow of doubt, that money does change a human being or not, the question is open for debate. If I am proven wrong I will surrender my own current view on the subject. I am not debating to be right, I am debating to know what is really true or not. In order to do that we need to bring down the number of variables (right now, the variables are too many) to a minimum until we only have one constant (one empirical proof).
Joshua, I do like your blog. I do like the concept of minimalism. I look forward to reading more from you.
Emmanuel says
hello! first of all I apologize for not being able to write these lines in your language (I read your website with the google translator) I agree with your article, not much to Mathias because usually when you have a billion dollars you have the capasidad to understand the need for which has not and that makes it impossible to help.
Mathias if you have a billion dollars and has what it takes to enterder to those without .. and help.
are you really rich .. congratulations.
also want compartirun story I read in Mark 12:41-44
And he sat down with the treasury chests in view and began observing how the crowd was dropping money into the treasury chests, and many rich people were dropping in many coins. Now a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins of very little value. So he called his disciples to him and said to them: “Truly I say to you that this poor widow put in more than all the others who put money into the treasury chests. For they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her want, put in everything she had, all she had to live on.
I hope you understand me and forgive my typos.
congratulations on your website.
Emmanuel.
David J. Singer says
Wealth is a great amount of anything — a wealth of friendships, love, and happiness, along with many of the other things you listed, are what I strive for.
Thanks for a great post.
David
Jessica says
While I agree on some aspects, and before I disagree on some, I would like to say that it all depends on how you define “rich”. Starting from what amount of money in you bank would you define somebody as “rich”? You say that once our basic needs are covered money doesn’t contribute to our overall happiness, but at what point are they covered? What amount of money would be the “right” amount of money?
Now to the disagreeing part:
I think if money doesn’t make you happy, then you are spending it wrong. And money can buy you freedom. If I hadn’t saved some money, I wouldn’t have been able to quit my job (freedom no 1) and travel the world (freedom no 2). But then again, maybe I am not “rich” according to your definition?
suzie says
Interesting post. I agree most with Miss Growing Green & Mathias. This has hit home especially for me this past year on several fronts. Please keep in mind I prefer simple and minimal as far as “stuff” is concerned. I recently was laid-off from a part-time job I had for 6 years. I’m currently doing “temp” work but with full-time hours. I didn’t realize until now how much of a difference the extra money makes. It has been a tremendous stress relief. Also I wonder if people take into consideration what happens if something catasrophic happens. It sure helps if you have enough money. We have had to deal with it on both sides of the family. My mother-in-law (age 92) had a sudden fall, ended up hospitalized, developed an aggressive infection as a result and then died, within a span of 3 months. My father (age 93, with alzheimers) was diagnosed with atrial fibulation and had to be sent to a nursing home. We are now discussing hospice care as his health is rapidly declining. This has all been going on this year. I can’t even begin to imagine the additional stress if there was not enough money for their care.
Mr. Everyday Dollar says
Content [with the material things we have], is the one I think most people struggle with.
People confide in me that their finances are a mess: they are in debt, and they feel helpless and anxious. When we take an objective look at their financial situation, we usually uncover a home and life cluttered and bulging from unnecessary “stuff”.
In many societies, there is an underlying consumerism woven into the very fabric of life and it’s ingrained from a young age. The difficult choice is deciding to consume less and to be grateful with what you have. It’s certainly not a switch you can throw, but a path to aspire to.