Evolutionary hardwiring! It’s a nice piece of code that, in a normal environment, would make you more likely to survive and reproduce. More of everything! Everyone has this battle…well not everyone, there are some pretty lazy people happy to watch tv. Gotta be careful what you wish for I guess.

An easy way to learn enough is plenty, is to visualize the soldier.
The soldier has:

Two pair of boots.
Four Camo tops and pants. 1 belt.
5 undershirts
5 drawers
5 pair of wool sox
4 pairs of white sox
1 PT uniform
1 pr Nike Running shoes
1 AG344 Dress Green Uniform
1 pair black oxfords.
1 cap camo.
1 cap beret.
1 set TA-50 Field Gear.
1 Rifle, M16A2.
1 bag, duffle.
Shelter-barracks, tent, or other quarters.
3 hot meals daily or subsistence allowance.
1 bag sleeping.

This is the soldier’s basic GI issue. The soldier paid nothing for it. If it is lost through the soldier’s fault, the soldier is charged for the losses. If not the soldier’s fault, it is dropped on a Report of Survey and reissued. It is enough. It is maintained in a highly ready condition. The soldier is world-wide ready for deployment at all times.

In the field, it is 3 hots, or two hots and an MRE, a cot, and a tent.
On top of that is all the pay and benefits.
On top of that is honor of serving your country.

I think dealing with the “enough” dragon as it relates to net worth is difficult because of the current financial markets. Savings Accounts paying nothing, stocks flat for a decade and the 10 year treasury at 2.5% When that “enough” becomes uncertain, that dragon is looking mighty hungry.

Jacob– you say you’re not sure what you would spend extra money on, but perhaps you aspire to have a better-located home, or a nicer one? Clearly we’re not talking about thousands, or even 1,000 square feet, but I wonder if you might now regard your initial nest egg as only the cost of admission to ERE, and perhaps aspire to a larger one for purposes of broadening your horizons?

@Steve Austin

People like you (and me) are a small minority. I never felt the urge to grow, I only did something with my life because I thought what everybody else was doing should be what I should be doing. Now I know better and I’m reverting my steps. Untying myself from marriage (done), girlfriend (done), children (in the works), house and mortgage (in the works), and ultimately, the job (planned).
When all that is over, I’ll be living in an old house on the country side, enjoying nature, mo body and being. Contemplating life, seeing an occasional friend, never feeling the urge to do something. That’s how I lived when I was a teenager, that’s how I want to live again. All my attempts to do something ‘useful’ with my life only brought me unhappiness. The only advantage is, that I have a net worth now, but here in Belgium you can easily live on social security your whole life. Not that I approve it, but which parasite is worse, the one living on his money, or the one living from social security? Maybe Jacob can answer that one.

Jacob –

I think the “dragon” in this case may be beneficial. If you have an urge to grow your net worth, then obviously you would at the very least seek to preserve it since it cannot go up if you are driving it down (spending). Absent any inclination toward increasing your assets, would you be as careful in their care?

I totally get this, but it’s only a recent development. I used to think growth for growth’s sake (or more for more’s sake) was the only way. Now I see that is a flawed idea….everything from the economy down to my personal situation. But it’s hard to know what is “enough” to last us for a lifetime.

I still struggle to slow down and enjoy life sometimes, always thinking there is something I should be doing.

Should bring Scrabble and Monopoly to the meet-up :).

Although my Monopoly was destroyed by the dog 🙁

[…] Retirement Extreme talks about slaying the ‘enough’ dragon.  I battle my ‘more is better’ dragon at least a few times a week.  Also I […]

Interestingly enough, your want for more net worth will probably never go away:

When asked how much it would take in order to be considered ‘rich’, people with net worths from $1 million all the way up to $25m+ said: “about double”.

Having made more than $7 million in 7 years, I can certainly tell you that this is true!

I recently answered that question for myself because if i went true ERE extreme, i’m FI now; but I figured there’s some things it’s worth trading more of my life for that i enjoy(like traveling, living in a reasonable dwelling).

I think everyone going ERE or FI need to take a lot of time to think of what they want in life now and for the rest of their life, then you can figure out what is enough.

Good post as usual. Reminds me of a classic story: “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” (Leo Tolstoy 1886).

My personal ‘more’ dragon is books/learning. No matter how many books I have/read, topics I learn, I always want more. In fact, the amount of learning/books I desire increase with each book/idea that I acquire, just like in Tolstoy’s story. I think I’ll never be satisfied. Fortunately I don’t pay cash for this addiction because of the internet and the library, but it takes tons and tons of time.

From an ERE perspective, I think it helps if we focus these cravings for ‘more’ on education, skills, accomplishments instead of ‘stuff’ or financial assets. If working/learning is what you love to do, then independence broadly defined takes a lot less money. If you have tons of skills, you can freelance on your own terms or negotiate with employers from a stronger position because you’re not trapped, whereas if you overspecialize, your employer basically owns you until you achieve FI, which you probably won’t achieve because you’ll be operating in ‘consumer’ mode.

I think this is an important point: For a lot of people, FI is harder to achieve purely financially, but much more attainable if you throw in skill diversification, freelancing, and entrepreneurial projects.

I find, as I grow older, that the dragon diminishes. Or, as time feels more precious it morphs into the One True Dragon which will materialise while anxiety will diminish.

JPP