Should I spend more money on experiences or things?
About this video
Sal pushes back on the idea, common in films and magazines, that fancy cars and big houses mean someone has 'made it'. He argues that things might make you feel a little better at the margin, but what really fulfills you is freedom, time with family, interesting work and your passions. His advice: don't optimize for money, optimize for the freedom money can buy.
You'll be able to
- explain why buying more things may only make us a little happier.
- list the kinds of experiences and freedoms the speaker says are more fulfilling.
- describe what it means to use money for freedom rather than for things.
Key words
- On the margin
- A small extra amount; here, the little bit of extra happiness one more nice thing might add.
- Fulfill
- To satisfy someone deeply, so they feel their life is meaningful and complete.
- Optimize
- To make the best choices to get as much of something as possible.
Transcript
- A lot of times in modern society you see movies, or you read about people in magazines and they have fancy cars and big houses, and there's kind of this implication that, hey maybe those people have made it. Maybe that's what I wanna be like. But the real reality is, yeah, maybe a nice car or this and that might make you on the margin a little bit feel good but in the big picture of things, those aren't what's going to really fulfill your soul.
The things that are gonna fulfill your soul is the freedom to do things you want, the time with your family, getting to do intellectually interesting things, things that really cater to your passions. That's where I always view money not as something to buy thing, but money that will help you have the freedom to do the things that you want, to have experiences.
Don't optimize for money. Optimize for the freedom that money might be able to get you.
Video © Khan Academy, used under CC BY-NC-SA. Watch on Khan Academy. Puzzicle is not affiliated with Khan Academy.