How much money do you need to live?

I was chatting with a 17 year old high school junior this week who was looking for some career direction. He wants to engineer and design cars, but also wants a lot of money. The average annual salary of $65k for industrial designers seemed low. Mmm, OK...

Over the years, I've learned that money is a very strange beast. People are obsessed by it, mostly because you never seem to have enough. It's all an illusion.

If there's one thing I've learned from 15+ years in the workforce, you'll never be happy if you chase $$$. You'll hop from job to job, company to company for a small pay increase. After a few years, you won't have anything to show for that, and you'll never be satisfied.

The acquisition of stuff is an evil cycle. With some money, you buy some stuff. You need a bigger place to put your stuff, so you buy a bigger house. You need a better job to pay for the house. Suddenly, you have more money again, so you buy more stuff. Repeat.

Looking back at the happier times of my life, it's always been when my lifestyle fits within my means. I may not have the biggest TV, flashiest car and so on, but I have enough so that I don't have to stress over not having enough.

I know that most people think "If only I had a little more", but this is the trap. You need to learn how to be happy with what you have - chasing "more" is an endless cycle (of course, this doesn't work for everyone; there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people in this city that cannot afford the basics like food and clothing - making more is critical to maintaining basic health and security - I'm not insensitive to this).

Step back and reevaluate. how much do you really need?