Forbes List : The World’s Billianaires - How Rich Do You Want To Be?

THE BILLIONAIRES

1. William Gates III
2. Warren Buffett
3. Carlos Slim Helú
4. Lawrence Ellison
5. Ingvar Kamprad
6. Karl Albrecht
7. Mukesh Ambani
8. Lakshmi Mittal
9. Theo Albrecht
10. Amancio Ortega
11. Jim Walton
12. Alice Walton
13. Christy Walton
14. S Robson Walton
15. Bernard Arnault
16. Li Ka-shing
17. Michael Bloomberg
18. Stefan Persson
19. Charles Koch
20. David Koch

Above is a list of the top twenty richest people in the world according to http://www.forbes.com The article stated that even the richest people in the world have gotten poorer. This year the billionaires have an average net worth of $3 billion which is down 23% in the last 12 month. I know what everyone is probably thinking. Boo Hoo right? Most people would kill to have that kind of money or would they?

How rich would you really want to be? What would your life “really” be like if you had a billion or even just a million dollars? Sure you might have the mansion, the best car money could buy, hang out with the movie stars, etc. but would you be really happy and stress free? I think the key words there are stress free. Now I know everyone has stress, so maybe the key words should be a less stressful life but everyone seems to think that if they had enough money they wouldn’t have the stress they have now? I really don’t believe that for a minute! You only change one kind of stress for another kind of stress. It really comes down to the kind of stress your willing to deal with in your life.

Do you want the stress of “How am I going to pay all my bills on this budget?” or do you want the stress of “I have so much money, how am I going to keep it and trust the right people to manage it?” Money management is the key to being rich and if you don’t know how to handle it or get trustworthy people to help you manage it, then you are bound to head for disaster. Just look at all the celebrities other people in the news that have lost millions due to mismanagement of their money.

Another question I have is: Do you really own anything? I have had discussions about this with my mother and my grandmother. They are always complaining about house payments, car payments, property taxes, etc. If for some reason you lose your income and default on these payments then your property gets taken from you? How is that owning something? Look at all the different auctions you can go to and get things people defaulted on just because they couldn’t pay for something they supposedly “owned”. I’ve always rented and the vans I have owned were not new; so I had little payment due on those, but I don’t really see a difference in renting and owning?

I’m not trying to say that you should not strive to gain more income and enjoy the finer things in life that you enjoy doing. As long as you are happy with your life and don’t put yourself in a situation where you are always working and not having fun to gain that extra dollar or living beyond your means, then go for it. Life is to be experienced the way you want to live it. It just comes down to how you want to live and what kind of stress you can live with in your life.

Well that’s my two cents worth. Please let me know your thoughts on this subject in the comments area and please don’t forget about the surveys I have on the left side of the blog. Thank you.

Happy Blogging!

Nora