But this idea of control of one’s time is a great leveler. To me, if you control what you do every day, it matters less where you fall on the net worth hierarchy. You’re never going to win the net worth game but you can definitely win control of your time.
For example, my grandparents worked early on but they were retired the whole time I knew them. They had enough money to have time for peaceful, leisurely mornings gardening and drinking coffee out in the country in southeast Georgia in their nothing fancy house and farm where they lived, time and money to take us on driving trips to the mountains for weeks each summer, time to visit friends and talk (endlessly), time to go fishing, and they always owned a nice newer car.
I always thought, “That’s the way to do it. I want to live like they do.” So I set out to save and invest so that DW and I could get to their lifestyle as soon as we could (like the Hawaiian Monk Seal in my ER Forum icon ?).