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Comment by DanielBMarkham | Hacker News Reader

The more I think about this -- really think about it -- the more I become convinced that anonymity and a small amount of recurring income, along with a reasonably-frugal life, is probably the best outcome in life.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm not saying to be poor. I'm saying that the more your income becomes visible -- past just having a low-key life -- the more it gets in the way of things, both for you and your family.

That can either mean living in a room where they shove a couple pizzas under the door every day or living in a modest 4BR house in a mediocre neighborhood. It's the visibility and the host of hidden entrapments that come with that visibility. What I didn't realize when I was younger that this problem of visibility isn't just limited to how others view your wealth -- it's really more a problem of of you view it.

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As long as you are content there forever. Like the research says, once you take the worry about money out of the equation, money no longer becomes much of a motivator.

Kind of makes it hard to work or do other ventures.

If money was you only motivator in the first place.

Eating and having shelter was a motivator before, not money. Once you don't have to worry about those anymore (i.e. don't need a paycheck, feasibly never needing another paycheck).

My brother pointed out to me that he thought life would be great if he "had enough money to control his schedule".

My life became measurably better when I gained the independence to set my own schedule. I have to say that financial independence (for me at least) brought a significant amount of happiness, that I am very fortunate to have.

I now work from my house, and have 3 small children. The ability to drop what I am doing to seize the moment when the kids are doing something eventful (walking for the first time, speaking there first word, playing video games with them, doing robotics with them) is an amazing freedom and blessing.

We frequently pick up and leave to go places on the spur of the moment, which also provides experiences that my kids would not otherwise have been able to do. The best part is I feel more creative than I have ever felt in my 17 years in the industry and I am far more productive and work longer hours without burnout.

I see a lot of people saying that achieving financial independence did not make them happier and I don't understand it. For me it gave me the ability to create an environment where I could have a more satisfying family life and a more creative work life. It has done wonders for my happiness.

A room of one's own and GBP£500 a year? Now where have I heard that before.

That's a very good book to read, even as a man from a completely different time and circumstance than Virginia Woolf's when she wrote it.

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