How Much Is Enough

Core Content Overview#

Story Summary#

This book provides a series of viewpoints and methods for evaluating self-wealth and exploring what constitutes one’s own abundant life. It lists many tools to help readers start directly, and provides readers with investment methods and concepts.

However, I feel the methods and tools are not very useful for those who already have these concepts. But I chose this book precisely because I’d never thought about how much I should earn in this lifetime to be considered enough. So I mainly focused on absorbing the book’s perspectives on wealth and life. After reading it, I felt four words ran through the entire text: “begin with the end in mind.”

Highlights#

A Passage That Moved You#

Define yourself with your own vision, just as you paint your life landscape, finance is just your brush.

The first step to truly taking full responsibility for your life is to stop going with the flow, face and become aware of whether everything you’re pursuing, or even what you’re afraid of losing, is imposed on you by external society, or what you truly want?

Interesting or Unexpected Parts#

We earn passable salaries yet miss true wealth. Thinking our efforts are creating wealth, but actually only maintaining a slightly better quality of survival. This is why the way most people pursue wealth is essentially doomed to never truly obtain wealth.

Saying this isn’t to tell everyone: “You’re already happy, cherish everything, just be more relaxed about money.” But to make every reader know from today what’s most important, what you hope to maintain and keep even after having lots of money. Only then, on the road to wealth ahead, can you know what your bottom line is, and throughout the entire process, gain a life richer than money, one that money can’t buy.

Key Insights or Values#

Begin with the end in mind. Imagine and sketch out your future dream blueprint, calculate the required costs, including time costs. Especially those requiring time costs—clarify what you want. Perhaps many things can be done now (e.g., healthy diet, accompanying family). Or perhaps the dream life you want doesn’t require that much.

With clear goals, you can start calculating, avoiding endless anxiety. Reminds me of the concept mentioned in Rich Dad Poor Dad - “Poor people’s thinking is, I can’t do it because it costs so much, while rich people’s thinking is, it costs so much, how can I achieve it?”

Dream Blueprint Example:

• Living expenses (basic costs of ideal life) - 100,000/month, 1.2M/year
• Healthy body (coach fees, gym) - 10,000/month, 120,000/year
• Whether to have a partner, wife, children? (cultivate relationship, family harmony, education costs, living expenses) - Still thinking
• Skill improvement (lecture, course fees) - 100,000/year
• Three overseas trips per year (annual expenses) - 300,000 per trip, 1M/year
• Lake view villa (one-time expense) - 30M
• Run tennis club (land, court construction, club facilities - small gym, sauna, athlete massage recovery room, sports goods store) - 50M
• etc.

For example, approximately 2.5M in annual active/passive income needed, 80M in one-time fees. After calculation, approximately 150M needed. Currently seems like a large number, but assuming gradual achievement over 40 years, with 6% annual return, monthly regular investment of 71,500 can meet this requirement. Calculated this way, dreams don’t seem so unattainable. With clear goals, you can start figuring out how to achieve them.

The quality of life that material things can bring is absolutely limited, and there must be diminishing marginal benefits. Such people either fall into endless desire competition or feel anxious without work or earning more money due to lack of security.

Personal Reflection & Practice#

Impact on Me#

In the past, I hadn’t carefully thought about or calculated my ideal life’s appearance and costs. Now I’m starting to think about my ideal blueprint.

Practical Application#

Thinking about the future ✍️

Extended Thinking#

Thought-Provoking Questions#

What is the picture of your dream future? Have you carefully calculated the costs required to achieve this dream blueprint?

Recommendations & Summary#

Suitable Readers:

If you feel money is being spent more and more, work is getting harder and harder, but you’re feeling less and less secure, more and more empty, more and more unable to be without your current salary.

Summary:

The book provides clear concepts and offers tools for those who haven’t established frameworks yet.

So, try to imagine (4:00 - 4:37)