I think the worst part right now, as in the worst part in September 2017, is that there are things that I want to talk to my friends about, such as planning to buy a beach house, and I would like some friendly advice, but every time I bring up something which reflects my wealth they react in this way they think is funny, but is really tiresome.
Almost a decade ago I'm with friends right after I caught my cleaning lady throwing out a bunch of my kids' toys that they left on the ground and I'm debating whether or not I should fire her. You know, like, "Was this my kids' fault or her fault?" and I mention this one time and my friend was like, "ooooh lawdy, you jes caint find good help no mo." And I stood there like, F.U. So in the end I just had to wing it. Because I can't ask anybody ANYTHING which would suggest that I'm wealthy because the moment I do, all they want to talk about is money. As if money is the most important issue in one's life.
I was talking to the guy who runs my kid's hobby league this morning and I was lamenting how much stuff my son was interested in (because of the space it takes up) and he just goes, "Yeah, it's way too expensive. You just have to pick and choose what you can afford." And I'm sitting here like, "Not again." Not another discussion about how expensive everything is and woe is us poor folks. Remember when you were a kid and things like videogames seemed impossibly expensive, like you had to save up money and do extra work to buy a $30 game next month? That's how I feel about, I guess, an OLED 4K TV. I want to buy one, but to save up the $5000 to buy a good one will take me until Thanksgiving, and maybe if I can win this new work I will get that $5k sooner, but really I have to wait for a sale so I don't pay an extra $500 I don't need to. But everything else is like buying a candy bar when you were a kid. I just have to wait until I get paid (all my bills and investments come out of my check first) and then I have enough money for the two weeks to buy anything I feel like. Kid needs a $100 something, "Ok, I'll get it, but just one this month." I bought my younger son this funny shirt from A Bathing Ape and at school one of his friends totally lost his sh-t in front of me and started saying, "That's a $400 shirt! That's a $400 shirt!" and my son gets embarrassed, and I gotta tell the kid to please stop shouting, it's not at all a $400 shirt. But I did end up buying my 5th grader a $100 t-shirt and I kinda wonder if that's a mistake given everyone's reaction to it. And really I didn't think about it, I just saw the shirt and said, that's cool, that's going to really impress the kids in his class.
The best part of being rich is knowing I could retire in my 40s and never work again. I don't have enough money to travel, I don't have enough money to do much, but I could live for the next 50 years on the money I have saved up.
But people have to understand to, that being rich goes hand in hand with enjoying your job. I quit my job in February and worked as a consultant for three months, and I wasn't really very happy. I would rather be at work, getting paid a lot of money, striking business deals, and if I need to take a break to watch cat videos, doing it while I'm getting paid rather than while I'm at home.