How much do you need to be happy?
And how much value do you place on the future?
I was at a party this weekend, chatting with a friend I haven’t seen in ages. I was struck by how peaceful and content he seemed. We’re talking monk-like contentment.
The secret? Not worrying about the future.
He’s from Napoli (Naples) where your life is perpetually lived in the shadow of an active volcano. The possibility that your world could end at any moment in time is going to have a big impact on you. It’s going to make you truly be present.
Why would you worry about the future — be they big plans, such as tying yourself to a multi-decade mortgage, or smaller plans, such as planning a dinner two weeks from today — when you don’t know if that version of the future will even happen?
Instead, you focus on having enough income to cover your outgoings, on doing the things that make you feel fulfilled, and maximising your enjoyment of these things in the moment.
These plans — an essential component of British life — are distinctly un-European. You generally don’t make plans in Spain or Italy, for example. You decide in the moment if you would like to go for dinner and have a specific cuisine that evening; you don’t plan ahead.
You definitely don’t make reservations, because the version of you that would have made those plans is different from the version of you in the future. They’re not massive differences — in taste, in mood, in energy, in location — but they’re differences nonetheless.
And these differences matter, because you live in a way that aligns who you are and what your instincts are guiding you towards with your actions and situations.
One of the biggest traps of our society is forcing us to delay our happiness to an uncertain future. It’s what ties us into mortgages we have to pay, with jobs and salaries that mean that we can pay those mortgages. What ties us into paying so much more for children’s education, extra-curricular activities (and losing time in the process too), in the hope that they will become the best version of themselves. But you don’t know until much later if these sacrifices will pay off. And there’s no guarantee that you’ll be there to reap the rewards.
I’m not saying we can opt out of these systems altogether, if we’re not already that way inclined.
But there are probably some tweaks we can make to change how much value we place on the future — and see where we end up. Without planning the end result and working backwards.
1. What it takes to be "financially successful" by generation
This is a US study so the salary figures are higher than the UK or Europe — but look at the DIFFERENCES between generations!
Gen Z’s definition of being financially successful is significantly higher than that of other generations. They need almost $600,000(!). Part of this is probably due to inexperience and less realistic expectations — this is unsurprising.
But this is also the generation that has only ever known life with the Internet and therefore the theoretical democratisation of access to generating higher levels of wealth. And greater visibility of what the high life looks like, feeding into aspirations. Plus they’ve been accustomed to economic shocks, triggering inflation. Alongside living in an environment where workers are increasingly resentful.
On top of this, American culture is centred on an individualistic culture and requirement to pay for everything (life without social security nets, and free healthcare).
Whoosh…
2. Debt anxiety leaves UK consumers ‘scared’ to spend on credit
I’m always interested in differing attitudes to debt. It’s something our parents’ generation is super averse to, whereas younger people are more open to using credit to finance their lives (this is a massive generalisation).
As costs rise and disposable income reduces, credit has a role to play in helping people to manage their cashflow. But it comes with a risk that it spirals out of control; repayments become unmanageable. A third of people who have avoided using credit say this is why they don’t ‘do credit.’
One very interesting thing to note is that the cost of living in the capital is higher than elsewhere: “Londoners are more likely to rely on credit cards, BNPL and other finance to cover the costs of household essentials. Almost two-thirds (62%) said they use their credit cards to pay for bills, groceries, fuel and childcare, compared with less than half of Brits (49%) overall.”
Incidentally, TfL’s cyber attack (I don’t know if most people were aware of this) has meant that commuters have been overcharged significantly (e.g. by not being able to tap out due to broken card readers) — to the tune of millions over the last three months. Good news. You can now apply for refunds once again; the system is back online. Do it!
3. For the second year in a row, cash usage has increased (after 10 years of falling usage)
Even though many of us are pretty cashless, explaining a decade of falling cash usage in shops, for the second year in a row cash usage has gone up in the UK.
Notes and coins were used in a fifth of transactions; shoppers found cash helped them to budget better. The amount spent per purchase also dropped slightly from £22.43 to £22.03.
This report came out after charities told a committee of MPs that numerous groups are excluded from essential services and community venues going cashless (leisure centres and parking services are two of the common examples).
Groups include people with disabilities, women in abusive relationships, older people — and people without the skills and/or mental capabilities to operate only with cards and phones.
There’s a tension between optimising for efficiency and making sure that people don’t get ‘left behind.’ Hopefully increased representation of excluded groups’ voices means that this doesn’t happen.
Links!
MONEY
More than a third of British homeowners would not put in an offer for a home if it was situated too far away from a pub. They’ve also incorporated a trip to the local pub as part of the home-viewing process, with just over a third (36%) saying they had visited a pub before or after a home viewing. A 13-minute walk is the ideal distance and more than a mile is a dealbreaker. Community is important!
Do you have the right insurance over the Christmas period? Check. More than 80% of home insurance policies automatically increase your contents cover over Christmas (it’s called a “seasonal increase” or “special events cover” — and applies in the run-up to, during and after a religious festival or celebration such as a wedding or the birth of a child); when you have more valuables at home. Who knew.
50% of people said they always or usually donate to charity over the festive period — versus a third who regularly give money to charity throughout the rest of the year. In the UK, it’s estimated that households will donate £2.8 billion over November and December.
LIFE
We deserve free sparkling water at restaurants! I endorse this.
This is how people make money from affiliate marketing.
Paris and Nicole are rebooting (kinda) The Simple Life — and the theme song is a version of their in-joke ‘Sanasaa’ (I cannot WAIT to hear this).
Why "we" want insurance executives dead. “No sh*t murder is bad. The [commentary and jokes] about the United CEO aren’t really about him; they’re about the rapacious healthcare system he personified and which Americans feel deep pain and humiliation about."
Have a wonderful week ahead!
Know someone who would enjoy this in their inbox on a Sunday morning?