I had to devalue the estimated price of my house. That, plus, stock market slumps, puts me at a net worth right now similar to what I was at 7 months ago. It is frustrating not to see progress but I think it's an honest account, plus it makes me think that I should not be going around obsessing over these numbers so much.
Anyways this does not detail my plans.
in general I think it's pretty insane what we have been able to make and save by being in this African country for the last two years. Income wise it's been crazy - making 280 chf take home combined in one year. I didn't expect that it would be so lucrative. Of course the inheritance helped.
I'm going to reach 1m CAD in a year and a half (age 37 instead of 36). It's funny because I feel like reaching this milestone now does not impact my life in any way. Watching the numbers does not do anything for me now, except waste my time.
Doing net worth calculations does not make me any happier because the pace of change is so glacial.
Three years ago at this time I had less than $500k CAD. Now that I have $300k more, I feel absolutely nothing from the increase. I feel the same way that I did back when I had $500k CAD, or when I had $100k CAD.
If you gave me $300k now, I'd be through the moon happy. I'd feel so rich. But if you fast forwarded another 6 months or so, I'd feel exactly the same way that I do now. The happiness would normalize.
I'm chasing the happiness that comes from gaining money, or the relief from anxiety that comes from gaining money. But these feelings are temporary and don't solve any of your problems for the long term. So I don't think they are as useful as I think.
It is very likely I will gain another $300k CAD in another 3 years, or more, which will put me squarely in the bona fide millionaire set. But I will feel the same as I do today. It will not increase my security, nor make me a better employee, nor increase my capacity to contribute to the world, nor make me a better partner nor parent. It will simply be.
I think, "oh, but I would be happier if I got a $200k per year increase, not a $100k per year increase! Wow, wouldn't that be something. Then I would be happy."
But when you think about it that's not true either. The happiness comes in the brief moment when you imagine this possibility and feel the hope of the change. When you actually experience it you will be in exactly the same level of happiness as you are now (with possibly a very very negligible or slight increase in your rated well being, but likely something you would not notice).
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