Yes, I Really Do Want One Million Dollars

….actually more like five million dollars.

This is in response to this article: You Really Don’t Want a Million Dollars

I don’t want five million dollars so that:

I can buy a nice Ferrari, Masserati, etc.
I can buy a nice mansion with an indoor pool.
I can buy my fiancee 10 carat ring.
I can pay for my son to go to any ivy league school.

No, no… that’s stuff that I don’t want. Don’t get me wrong, some of it would be nice, but entirely unnecessary.

I do want five million dollars so that:

If my son or fiancee get a life-threatening illness, I can stop working to spend time with them and know that they’ll still get the best treatment that money can buy. In short, it acts as insurance.
I can influence positive change quicker and deliver more of an impact. Money acts as leverage. With a lot money, I could potentially improve more lives in the world today.

That’s about it. I want insurance and leverage. So, why five million? At a conservative interest rate of 3% per year, I would net 150k. That’s enough for a family to live on for quite some time. If I had to spend one million or two for health costs or charitable givings, it still wouldn’t impact my standard of living too much.

Currently, I make enough money where I don’t have to worry too much. That’s really all I need. I make a pittance compared to a software engineer in California, but for Nebraska I make enough.

So for now, I’m focused on doing the best job that I can do each day and before I can improve the lives of people all over world, I must start with the people around me. I’ll end with some quotes:

If you can’t feed 100 people, just feed one. -Mother Teresa

and…

The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less. - Socrates