What is money? What is contentment?
Money is an important thing to manage and keep control of. Money and wealth should be considered for exactly what they are; a means of exchanging value and time between other humans. Money is a very basic time machine. It allows you to carry pleasure and comfort forwards and backwards in time. For example, if you wish to have a comfortable and enjoyable life when you are in your 60′s, you can time-shift pain from that time to the present day. By working hard in your 30′s you can use money to shift the requirements of maintaining life from that future date to the present.
In the same way, by giving up present-day pleasures of eating foods which accelerate aging and diminish health, a person can also enjoy longer life and better health in their later years.
Money is also a tool to take advantage of opportunities at different times. During some time periods, business or profit opportunities come up that do not always exist. For example, in the early 2000′s there was an unusual real estate market that presented a chance to make profits by “flipping” houses. A person could spend a few years earning extraordinary profits with this activity. By warehousing the money earned from this, the investor can use the funds to sustain their lifestyle during the next years when flipping does not work.
This feature of using money is reason for every person to consider having a personal business venture. A regular salaried day job pays mostly a constant income, which does not lend itself to having occasional excesses that can be warehoused. A personal business venture can have spikes in business which churn out extra money. This extra money is a powerful tool to use for future personal interests, or to further explore new business ventures.
Money by itself is not contentment. It can be exchanged for goods and services that other humans prove you with. Those things may provide some contentment. Be sure that the contentment you get from the items chosen is enduring, and exceeds the contentment you gave up to get the money in the first place.
Keep your view of money simple. It is just a way to count and keep track of things. It is not a solution by itself. Getting large volumes of money is a good thing. It is easier to get and keep money if you look at it in the simplest way possible.
