On... Living Well

What does it mean to live well?

My mother in law is envious of a friend because she bought a large piece of land and built three houses on it. At probably the costs of 10 million AUD. My wife in the meantime is curious as to what my daughters cello teachers family do for a living because she lives in a big house with 3 Porsches in her garage. At probably the costs of up to a few million AUD? Does it mean those people are living well?

For sure everyone has a different definition of living well. But it is not too far from reality if I think a vast majority of people equate living well to having a lot of material possession. Material possession is perhaps a kind of signaling.

Why do I think so? I have no way to prove this but only gut feeling. If my mother in law had the money, I suspect she would not spend it on 3 houses. If my wife had the money, she probably would not buy 3 luxury cars. And it is likely the reason to buy those stuff is to say, "Hey look at me. I can afford these things. I am living well. I am living a good life". No one buys a Rolex and hide it under their pillow.

A lot of people equate material wealth to living well. Maybe thats true, but I beg to differ. So what does Living Well mean? To me, living well means living life by your own rules. It means being able to do things that you want to do (That means you have to have some level of Financial Independance of course). Well, I dont have a 10 million AUD portfolio, but I feel like I'm living very well. It probably doesn't look like it from the outside, because there is no material possession for me to signal it. But here I am, living the best years of my life.

So, don't be envious of others possession. Because deep down inside, its not what we really want. Or is it?