To be honest, I think your post illustrates the premise of the article. You can do these things without a vast sum of money just as easily as if you had a big wad of cash.

And if your point is that being able to do those projects and ALSO "buy what you want" (e.g. nicer TV and car) will give you much greater satisfaction from your life, you are clueless about human nature. You might get a thrill from these items in the short term, but eventually you'll just want more and better ones. You'll be in the same place (psychologically) as where you started.

And while you argue that I'm clueless about human nature, I'd argue that you are. It's human nature to want more, even if it is only temporary. In fact most things I want to do provide only short-term satisfaction. I know that and I'm fine with that. The things that give long-term satisfaction are generally free, but those aren't the things I want money for.

You make a mistake in your point. The mistake is that you assume that he wants to achieve happiness by acquiring these material possessions like that new TV, an expensive car, etc. He won't, and he knows that. What he'll achieve is pleasure. Short term pleasure, maybe, but so what? Desire for pleasure is natural, and being in a position to get all the toys you want will satisfy that, and keep satisfying it.

It won't fill any holes in your soul or give you long-term happiness, but it's not supposed to. That burning desire to live better is what drives human progress. Look around and see how comfortable our existence is today compared to a thousand years ago. Cars, electricity, phones, heating, plumbing--so much convenience. None of that is necessary to exist, but it's something that makes living our lives much more pleasant. That new TV or car isn't going to give our lives more meaning, but it will make them more interesting and satisfying.

Add it all up and you're barely breaking a few thousand dollars.

Sure you need money. He's not saying you don't need money. The point is that when people say they need to be arbitrarily wealthy because they want to eventually do Y, they can usually do Y for much, much less money than they think. In fact it is usually within their current means.

So stop agonizing about not being rich and figure out how much you really need already.

I've learned to settle to do things I generally "mostly" like. Like, while I like to do software development, I've decided to not start another startup. While I made decent money, most of my time wasn't spent writing code. And honestly, most of the type of code I like to write isn't like Facebook. It's stuff that I get personal enjoyment out of -- deploying to millions of people is mostly of interest to investors.

I don't even think about the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, not because I don't want one, but I've learned to set my expectations lower than what I absolutely want.

I think most people do the same, although some delude themselves that all they really want is a Honda Civic.

People charter private jets all the time. People of very ordinary means lease and even learn to fly jets.

I haven't looked into it, but I'd bet there is somewhere in Europe that will rent and insure you a Bugatti that you can drive down the Autobahn for a few thousand. Heck, I know for certain you can drive an F1-style open wheeled race car around a track for a couple thousand. You won't even want to go as fast as it can go.

You can get a custom meal by a top ranked chef for one or two hundred dollars. You can't do that every day, but there's the law of dimishing returns on that stuff anyway.

Maid services can be had for several hundred dollars a year. Unless you have a palatial estate (tens of thousands of square feet) you don't need live in help.

I'm not trying to come down on you. I'm just trying to say doing even these extravagant things are not out of reach at all.

I don't want a meal by a top ranked chef. I actually want a private chef. I have a couple of friends that have them and they are very different, in the sense that you have very specialized meals. While I can probably charter Mario Batali for a custom meal for $500 to $1000 a couple of times. Having him staff for two to five meals per day probably costs a fair bit.

For a reasonably-sized house decent maid service will start at $1000/year, and that's just for something like 12 cleanings per year. For live in service, expect a fair bit more.

And again, part of what I want is not having to figure out the optimal way to get a good. I don't want to spend 20 minutes price shopping online for best rates on an alarm system. My time is my non-replenishable asset and you seem to be asking me to trade it in to get a sub-optimal service that only superficially looks like what I really want.

Another thing, I want a full scale gym in my house. I hate commuting to the gym (although made slightly better with a Bugatti). I want a bigger yard, but don't want to move my primary residence. Would be nice to just buy the houses around us.

I'd like to own the Lakers and the Dodgers.

There's a lot of things, and I haven't even really thought about it, largely because its not really in play today.

I hope that is the case, and I hope your posts aren't indicative of your mindset and worldview, because you come across as very whimsical and insecure--two qualities that I can assure you are not conducive to actually generating the kind of wealth you apparently desire.

Sorry, they are. Am I insecure? Of course, I need more money to buy some security!