I recently heard in a podcast from Meb Faber, which he attributed to someone else, the following:
Most people dont want to be a millionaire; they want to spend a million dollars.
I thought this quote is profound. When most people get some extra cash, they would rather spend it than save and invest it. Most people do not have the discipline to forgo something they want now for more wealth in the future.
It is the same thing when people look at an investment that has done really well. They say, if I only had put $1,000 into Tesla when it went public, I would have a million dollars today. Almost all who did put $1,000 into Tesla sold it well before it got to a million. Most sell after an investment doubles.
A mantra that has resonated with me, that I do not know where I heard it, is:
I seek not wealth for riches. I seek wealth for freedom.
Most people want money to buy something new and shiny. They want money for what it buys. Maybe they want it as a status symbol, as a number to rank themselves against others by. My goal in creating wealth is to have the freedom to do whatever I want and when I want. To not have to work if I do not want, and to work on whatever I want to work on when I want to.