Here Are 4 Reasons You Don’t Want To Be A Multi-Millionaire
But by all means, keep buying into that sh*t.

The same list of effort goes into working towards any quality education, from B.S. to a Ph.D. If you are driven based upon becoming a millionaire you’ll never achieve it.
— Marc J. Driftmeyer
I’ll never forget hopping back in my car for the first time after completing a full-time national service program. Not only was it strange to be riding around in an actual car again (we had big 15 passenger vans), I was forced to think about the future.
As is often the case, my family poked and prodded me. Inspired by my year of service, I wanted to continue to give to the world. Maybe work in a non-profit, government agency or start my own business.
And then my brother chimed in.
“I just want to make a lot of money”.
Oh jeez.
Look, money is a fine thing to want.
Financial security, travel opportunities, quality foods, fine wines (my favorite).
But when I woke up this morning, I saw an article go viral. It went a little like this:
“8 Ways to Become A Multi-Millionaire”.
Here’s why this premise is absolute garbage:

1. Money Can Buy Happiness, But Not Always
Duncan Riach was a employee at a Silicon Valley technology company in the early 2000’s. At 27 years old he became a multi-millionaire.
He describes often feeling anxious and dissatisfied with his money. Like most people, he believed his suffering would go away when he was wealthy. He soon learned humans rarely are satisfied with what they already have:
“The more luxury you have, the more luxury you need, but luxury never really satisfies the itch that it promises to scratch.”
— Duncan Riach
Diminishing Returns
Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton (unlike me) knows how to put together statistics.
Deaton discovered that, contrary to popular belief, after we make around $75,000, happiness doesn’t actually increase. In actuality, it pretty much levels off.

Now, as stated in the image above, cost of living can increase or decrease depending on where you live. The important idea here is the saturation limit, in which our basic needs are met.
So yeah.
Money can buy happiness. It’s just not what you think.
2. Who do you talk to?
The Independent put together a fantastic piece outlining the anonymous experiences of several fabulously wealthy people.
This one, in particular, shocked me:
“You’re the youngest and most under-dressed person in any restaurant you go to. You give money to parents who can’t hope to offer you career advice. After achieving more than most people ever achieve financially, what are you supposed to do — retire for the next 50 years?”
Friendship, fortunately, is usually free. As a former broke college student, I know some of my closest friendships developed with people who were also scraping by.
Turns out extreme wealth can be an extremely isolating venture.
And that’s not all.

3. Wave It Goodbye.
If you know James Altucher, you know this unfortunate story:
After losing over one million a week, cash, for the entire summer of 2000, I was forced to sell my apartment.
So one day in 2002, all the boxes were packed, the apartment was empty. We had two moving trucks waiting downstairs to move us an hour north of the city.
It was like an exile. My self-esteem was gone, my apartment was gone, I hadn’t slept a full night in almost three years, and other things I can’t even talk about.
My ex-wife, my two toddler girls, and Lynne, a close family friend who was helping us move, were taking one last look around. “Oh. My. God,” Lynne said. “This is really it.”
Now, Althucher is doing quite well nowadays, but he learned a few things about the realities of being a millionaire when he lost an enormous amount of money and had to start over.
Get this.
70% of rich families lose their wealth by the 2nd generation.
Yup, 70% is a big big, number. But make it 90% by the third generation. If you thought being rich was going to take care of your family for the next 5 generations, you’d be sorely mistaken.
But you know why rich people often hate being wealthy?
4. It’s Meaningless
“When I got rid of the majority of my possessions, I was forced to confront my darker side, compelled to ask questions I wasn’t prepared for: When did I give so much meaning to material possessions? What is truly important in life? Why am I discontented? Who is the person I want to become? How will I define my own success?” ― Joshua Fields Millburn
Again, for the people in the back: “When did I give so much meaning to material possessions?”
Why, when we think of wealth, do we think of dollar bills?
Who made us believe a yacht, 4 houses and a hot tub was our dream?
Most of us don’t know why we want to be a multi-millionaire, we just know it’s something we should want. And I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty terrible reason to want something.
I’m going to make this very clear.

Your life does not hold meaning because of your wealth or the things you own.
Rewarding work.
Giving to others.
Relationships
Friendships.
Love.
These bring our lives meaning. If money is a result of these things, even better.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at people’s biggest regrets at the ends of their lives. Spoiler alert: They don’t involve money, yachts, mansions or multi-millions.
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” — Jim Carrey
So if you want success, go for it.
Nobody is telling you not to chase after your goals or pursue your dreams. However, on your journey, think twice before buying into the lie of materialism.
Because you can become a multi-millionaire.
You just might not want to be.

