I had two very different conversations on my connections. The first was randomly with another Fidelity employee, also a Financial Representative, down in a branch near Baltimore and then another with an Indian woman discussing about her children. The first woman was engaged to an artist but was a dancer that felt compelled to work to support her fiancé even though they had to live apart to do so. She had a passion that she had to put aside to do something else for the sake of her future husband - she fell into finance like I did. As we talked, we came to the point where she came to a realization of something. It reminded me of a sign I read in Jimmy Johns one day:
The point of this story is that why are we postponing our goals to pursue money and fame? This dancer could run her own studio with her mother and enjoy what she loved for decades and possibly even a half-century but instead was willing to sacrifice her dream for the benefit of her fiancé getting to do that. I hope that she changes her mind, gets an online MBA and falls out of fiancé as quickly as she fell into it.
The Indian woman spoke of her son and how her daughter and son had to both face similar things. They were expected of from their culture to become doctors, professors, engineers, businessmen, etc. These are all positions of power and intelligence and respect. These roles are not important if there is not a whole array of individuals to work with and because of that, they are important. As both children struggle to figure out where their lives are going, their mother encouraged them as does mine to find something that will give you more choices and freedom that also makes you happy.
It was a question of conflicting paradoxes: the paradox of choice and the duality of wealth. There are so many choices of jobs, careers, degrees, dates, etc. There is too much. People have gotten to the point that they can't decide and so they let people choose for them. How do people decide? For my generation, the most common factors are the job title, the salary, and how easy is it. I think most people forget nowadays that what they are spending the majority of their day at is called work. It is hard. It is long. So most people who are lucky are able to get at least 2 out of the 3 things listed before. Even if you are not hardworking there are people who abuse the welfare system and can still get at least one of those things but that is a topic of discussion for another day.
The other paradox is the duality of wealth. The sign shows that not all wealth is simply financial. Financial security is nice! It provides choices and options and the freedom to do a lot of lovely things. However money is liquid - it comes and goes and will flow in and out rather quickly. It doesn't matter if it is taxes or expenses or lifestyle. The only way to really save enough for a rainy day is to make a conscious decision. When people chase wealth it is a very fleeting thing unless they take the time to figure out what is truly important to them in their lives. How much is enough? When do your wants start turning into needs? Is there a grey area or is it clearly black and white? When does supporting and earning a living turn into avarice and greed? How much is enough?
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