Extreme wealth the road to unhappiness
The fear of running out of money is one of the reasons we all keep working hard. This fear is what drives people to have more than one job or to keep working well past what might have been their retirement age. For many older adults the fear of outliving their investments is greater than the fear of illness.
However, there’s something else we should think about when it comes to how much money we have. Having too much of it isn’t necessarily a good thing and you could even say it’s dangerous.
For a start, big amounts of money can lead to destructive conflict. Business deals gone wrong, divorce, inheritances and lottery wins are commonly the points of argument in court cases, leading to the demise of friendships, business partnerships and family relationships.
If you are thinking super-rich, think bizarre and eccentric. Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, is spending a vast amount of money on a massive 10,000-year clock being built inside a West Texas mountain. The clock is
150 metres tall and powered by the Earth’s thermal cycles. The century hand advances once every hundred years, and a cuckoo comes out on the millennium. It ticks once a year.
And what is the purpose of this clock? Bezos says it is designed to be an icon for long-term thinking. The cost? A mere US$42 million (NZ$64.4 million).
Also on the eccentric list would have to be Jocelyn Wildenstein, who spent a large chunk of her US$2.5 billion divorce settlement on plastic surgery to make herself look like a cat.
Then there is the eccentric billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister of Georgia, who lives in a house made mostly of glass, and has a private zoo with penguins, sharks, flamingos and zebras. Michael Jackson, Elon Musk, Richard Branson – it’s not hard to see the link between vast fortunes and eccentricity.
Research shows that too much money can cause people to become overconfident and make poor decisions. Too much money stifles attributes such as creativity, resilience, resourcefulness and self-discipline. Without these attributes, fortunes can be easily lost.
The super-rich still have money worries. They worry about losing their fortune and their competitive streak can lead them to worrying about how far down the Rich List they are.
You see, wealth is a very relative thing. People compare themselves to their peers, and it is possible for very wealthy people to feel poor in comparison to others in their social circle.
Friendships can be more complex in the world of the mega-rich. It’s hard to find others of the same ilk because there are so few of them. Making friends with people who don’t have as much brings into question whether the friendships are based on who you are or what you have.
People judge others for their wealth. Wealthy people can be deemed to be undeserving of their wealth, workaholics, mean with their money and uncaring towards other people.
They can become targets for people looking for handouts or funding for their latest business venture, or people wanting to defraud them.
With wealth can come loneliness. That means you have to live with who you are – because while money buys physical comforts, it doesn’t fix your emotional issues. No amount of money can cure depression, anxiety and reclusiveness.
Howard Hughes, one of America’s most successful businessmen, was a victim of obsessive-compulsive disorder which worsened with age. He died a recluse, of malnutrition.
There’s a limit beyond which additional wealth becomes meaningless because it adds no value to a person’s enjoyment of life.
It’s heartening to see that more than 150 billionaires around the world have signed The Giving Pledge. Started in 2010 by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, The Giving Pledge is a commitment by wealthy people to give away more than half their wealth to charitable causes.
Why would they do this? In the words of Nick Hanauer, a recent signatory, ‘‘There is no greater privilege than to be fortunate enough to devote the majority of one’s time and resources to helping others – to making our community, and the planet, better than we found it.’’
Does money buy happiness? Up to a point, and beyond that, the happiness comes from giving it away.
Liz Koh is an authorised financial adviser and author of Your Money Personality: Unlock the Secret to a Rich and Happy Life, Awa Press. The advice given here is general and does not constitute specific advice to any person. A disclosure statement can be obtained free of charge by calling 0800 273 847.