Enough is enough
I have come across a number of sources lately that probe the notion of "enough". Enough is a term whose meaning appears endless. You could possibly categorize it as undefined. One of the first impressions of enough, is a barrier. Generally defining an imposed end point. When I was a child I was always told that I had enough dessert. Or more generally told that's enough of that. Enough of what? The ultimate in ambiguity "enough is enough". Enough what is enough? As we age into our teenage years we get told that we have enough clothes, enough shoes and that's enough fooling around and time to get a job. Heading to university and visiting campus pubs we get asked to leave because we've had enough. Had enough, I just had a couple beers. We then become adults and have children of our own and suddenly we are the ones telling them enough dessert, enough clothes and enough is enough! Oh no, adulting is so revealing. Luckily I will never be like that. Actually I have been that guy for 30 years. Enough of this brand of enough already.
Lately I have been exploring a different impression of enough. I have been looking at enough as more of a guardrail than a barrier. I may even describe it as a spiritual goal or endpoint. Instead of idly consuming to a point where an outside authority tells you to stop. In other words you have consumed enough. Enough beer, enough TV and enough video games. It may be spiritually beneficial to first thoughtfully consider and define what is enough, then consume. A simple example; my wife and I are going for a nice dinner. I am the driver. I will have one alcoholic drink during the evening. Maybe a cocktail before the meal or maybe a glass of wine with dinner. I realize this example does not lead to any spiritual awakening. However in a small way gives a preemptive slant to the idea of enough. Enough is defined before action is taken.
As I like to remind you all on most of these posts I am interested in decisions, information and how we as everyday people make our choices. How does the concept of enough fit into our decisions and can it be used to help us live comfortable with those decisions. Lets face it, not all of our decisions will be good ones. We have to live with the good ones and the bad ones. The notion of enough has popped up a several times when reviewing retirement planning resources. The most recent is from the Financial Tortoise. Specifically this video. In this video the creator Tae Kim details a number of ways that acquiring more "things" can actually make you poorer. However the video has the underlying theme of "enough" guiding your financial decisions. Within the first minute of the video Tae offers a quote from Lucius Annaeus Seneca:
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
In this quote Seneca puts poverty in the context of ones desire. This quote reminds me of the hedonic treadmill. I have written about this concept in previous posts. If one is constantly desiring "more" one will always feel poor. In her video Erin (Erin talks money on Youtube) directly addresses "enough". You can review these videos to delve deeper into how "enough" affects ones life and finances. I am interested in how we as people define "enough". Specifically what is enough when it applies to our desires and needs. Once we specify our version of enough we can then work towards acquiring the resources needed. How do we define our "enough"?
I'll start with an obvious thought. Enough is not just our basic needs. Food and shelter are part of it but do not fully encompass "enough". Part of "enough" is defining what will make us happy and fulfilled. This is the more difficult part of the definition. To define these aspects we really have to have a sound understanding of what makes us tick. We also have to account for the needs and desires of those closest to us. Chances are their desires will differ from ours. Hopefully after forty plus years of marriage the differences will be minimal. However defining enough will still require some give and take.
I admit I struggle with this aspect of "enough". I have joked with friends in the past that all I need is a bicycle and a library card. With these I can live a full life. I think I lack the imagination to think beyond my front door. For example my wife and I went to Europe a couple years ago. It was a trip to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary. The better part of the trip was directed by my wife. It was always her dream to visit Paris. I had rarely ever thought about visiting Europe. This lack of vision is due in part to my experiences growing up. I cannot think of anyone I knew growing up that vacationed in Europe. I did know a couple of families that traveled to Europe to visit family. All my family lived near me. I could ride my bike to visit most of them. The rest were a 15 minute car ride. I never had a reason to think about visiting far away places.
At this point in our lives "enough' is an important concept. As we head into full retirement we will need to set limits on our spending so that our retirement nest egg lasts. We do want to enjoy ourselves but we also need to feed and cloth ourselves. Essentially, "our enough" is going to dictate our spending habits for the rest of our lives. The better I define my enough the more accurately I can allocate my retirement resources.
With this in mind I think the first step in defining enough is a realistic assessment of my resources. Yes money is one resource, there are others. One key one would be health. At my age I cannot see myself skiing the major runs of the Swiss alps. Maybe one and then I am done (I even doubt that). Time is not only a scarce resource it is also something to be enjoyed. In our younger years we busily moved from task to task. Work, school events and kids sprots consumed most of our waking hours. In retirement time should be enjoyed for time's sake. Just because we have time does not mean we have to fill it with tasks. In short time is also an asset to be savored.
After resource assessment I think our next asset is our relationships. This one can be a little tricky. We can easily spiral into a poverty mindset if we constantly compare ourselves to others. This most evident on social media. Many of the resources I have listed in this post identify social media as the worst possible place to define enough. I concur, look at the nice pictures but don't think for one minute that you can build a sustainable life imitating social media. Here is a better example, I was speaking to a friend about their upcoming trip to New Zealand and Australia. Again my lack of imagination had obstructed any thoughts of visiting these places. In the course of our discussion my friend told me he was excited about seeing the southern sky. There are a number of astronomical features that are only visible in the southern sky. I have an interest in astronomy and I may never have thought of a trip to Australia feeding that interest.
This leads to a third aspect of enough. Just because I have the money and time does not mean I should do it. A task or trip has to interest me. Why else would I do it? Just because everyone is visiting a particular city does not mean I need to. I may look into why everyone is visiting and from that I may find something that interests me. As I am writing this I see a new corvette pass by. A flashy car is often a retiree's dream. Me, I have very little interest in cars. If the vehicle gets me from point A to point B reliably I consider it a good car. Past the reliability factor I have no interest in cars. I think it is important to add time to interesting tasks not add tasks to our time.
A final element is the "ewww" factor. Basically if you hear of something and you immediate reaction is ewwww, than you should not do it. I only include this due to an experience I had recently. We were on a shuttle taking us from the hotel to our cruise ship. I overheard a couple discussing the trip and loudly exclaim that they had 7 similar trips booked this year. By similar I mean the same level of service. my first reaction was as you may have already guessed; ewwww! I cannot imagine taking that many trips in a year. I enjoy or trips and eagerly anticipate our next one. I do not think I could handle more than a couple a year. I am just not built for that much fun.
So to summarize my first attempt at defining "enough"
- Assess Resources
- money
- time
- health
- Learn from relationships
- what can I learn from others
- avoid social media
- Interests
- Do not add task to your time add time to your interesting tasks
- If it makes you go ewwww, don't do it
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