Hacker News Reader

What does "no longer needed" mean? I think most people who encourage the exchange of money for 'happiness' don't fully grasp the subjectivity of this judgement.

A person's preferred strategy for expending and conserving resources is an emotionally-charged choice. Who am I to say anything about their choices?

View on HN

When i say it's 'no longer needed' I'm talking about behaviors which were previously useful for survival that have out grown their usefulness.

There is a certain point where one crosses into being grossly over conservative with their spending. I'm not casting any judgements of course, but when you reach that point you should probably stop and draft a will defining what should happen with your money. If you're unwilling to either spend it or give it away in life, know that it will either be spent or given away for you in death.

I have a pretty good nest egg. I owned a home for years before it occurred to me that I could spend <$1000 on a piano to put in my own home. That piano brings me joy every single day. I'm sure there are lots of other thousand-dollar purchases I could make that would bring me lots of joy, but I never do, because I find it extremely difficult to justify spending money on myself. I bought this home so that I could live with my (future) wife and so that my (future) children would have a place to live; it's still very difficult for me to think of it as anything other than "their" house. So these people do exist.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com