How Much Money is Enough? Rethinking Wealth and Wellbeing

Such a simple question. Such a complex answer. And such a personal matter. Working out what is enough for you can take time but it’s perhaps the most financially rewarding conversation you’ll have. We explain how and take in the views of academics, novelists, an investing behemoth before telling you our answer.

Simple, Isn’t It?

The jury is in, the verdict clear: £7.38 million is enough.

That’s how much money people need, according to an academically rigorous, global survey, from 2022.

The report says, “In 86% of countries the majority of people thought they would achieve their absolutely ideal lives with US$10 million or less.” That’s £7.38m according to the exchange rate we just used.

But get this, even here the numbers are hazy, the situation unclear. In some countries people would be happy with US$1 million or less. In others, a very sizeable minority wanted, “as much money as they could obtain, indicating unlimited wants.”

Let’s set aside the fact that some people clearly want the madly unobtainable – infinite money – and focus on the fact that ‘enough’ is a very personal thing. At least that’s what we read from this apparently cut-and-dried survey.

After all, the very definition of ‘enough’ is the point where you no longer want or need something. It’s the moment from which you can’t tolerate more.

A 20^th Century Parable

There’s a great story about two of America’s most gilded and lauded novelists from the 1970s.

Joseph Heller (Catch-22) and Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse 5) were sitting in a very plush party. Vonnegut turned to Heller and said, “Our host makes more money in a day than you made for the whole of Catch-22.”

Heller thinks for a bit, then says, “But I’ll have something he’ll never have – enough.”

Neat eh? Vonnegut related it plenty of times so it’s reasonable to think it’s true.

John Bogle certainly assumed so. The great man was a pioneer of index funds, now a US$17 trillion industry… and that’s just America. He also founded the investment giant Vanguard, with around $10 trillion under management. He loved the story so much he called his book ‘Enough’ and, amidst much wisdom, it says, “the most important things in life and in business can’t be measured.”

Enough For You

And that’s why professionals like us at First Wealth don’t start off by asking a new client how much money they want to amass. That’s not the path to wellbeing and contentment.

If you start from there, it’s easy to find that the money is calling the shots. There’s a life lesson from Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’, with its dragon Smaug laying atop, “countless piles of precious things, gold wrought and unwrought, gems and jewels, and silver.” He didn’t seem happy when we read the book – nor when we watched the film.

Far better to work out how money can serve you.

And that’s why professionals like us start by listening to what makes you happy, and what you want to achieve. It’s about aiming for a life of purpose, security and fulfilment.

We met a new client the other day. She was crystal clear about what she wanted to accomplish. Some of it was very clear (a tax-efficient pot to pass on, travel, a legacy) and some of it less so (peace of mind.)

She recognised that the money could get her there… she just wasn’t sure how. But that’s where we come in.

Contrast that with another client. He had his target sum in mind already. As an entrepreneur, he had a sale price in mind which, supplemented with personal wealth, would get him to £2.4 million give or take.

So, we spent much of our first meeting backfilling from there, to help him better understand what ‘enough’ might look like for what he wanted from the rest of his life… which was likely considerable given he’s not yet 40 and healthy as they come.

Your Enough?

This all brings us to this one suggestion.

If you’re thinking about what enough looks like, it’s best not to start by working out a sum of money you might reasonably amass and then determine what you might do with it. That’s the cart, as the old saying goes.

Put the horse first and start by detailing everything you want to accomplish. Think about what makes you happy. Family? Health? Adventures? Passing on knowledge or skills? Only then think about what you need to amass in order to get there.

We spend all day every day helping clients answer the question of, “how much is enough?” And then we devise a plan to get them there, through thick and thin.

If that’s a conversation you’d like to have please get in touch, we’re available on 020 7467 2700 and at hello@firstwealth.co.uk.

This document is marketing material for a retail audience and does not constitute advice or recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.