I talk a lot about “investing early and often” and “compound growth”. I’m afraid the implication is that if you deprive yourself enough for long enough, you’ll find a pot of happiness at the end of the compound growth rainbow.

But in addition to the compound growth curve, there’s another curve that decays with your age and your health. Money value to YOU decays as you’re less able to enjoy it. Just as a billion dollars is worthless to you in 100 years, even $10,000 may not mean much to you in your 90s when you aren’t interested in going on a river cruise or in your 80s when you aren’t able to go on a backpacking trip through Europe.

The point of building wealth isn’t to die with the most money. It’s to live your best life today and every day. But, as much as I hate this word, it’s really about BALANCE. If you go 100% YOLO, you’re not optimizing for happiness. You’ll get a few endorphin boosts on your luxury Vegas trip I’m sure, but you’ll come back feeling emptier than ever. And unable to do the next exciting thing. On the flip side, if you’re constantly turning down things that you love in the hopes of an even happier long term outcome, you’re not respecting that decay curve the the value of money. You gotta spend some now to maximize your life happiness!

As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.

-Jeremy

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By: Gabriela Gonzalez
Title: The Balance Between Saving and Living
Sourced From: personalfinanceclub.com/the-balance-between-saving-and-living/
Published Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 21:41:17 +0000

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