Can we live well without having to mortgage our lives and have a promising future without financial headaches? Is it possible to live like a millionaire without having a large income?

The first thing you must do to know the reality of this is search the Internet for the name of this financial journalist: Michelle McGagh. Homework done? Let’s move on. As we can see, in 2015, this English journalist decided to stop spending money for a whole year. After a year of extreme savings, without even spending money on transportation or restaurants, she managed to save more than £20,000 in a year, almost the amount she needed to buy a new car.

With the example above, we can see that it is possible to live well having a more austere life, without great luxuries or ostentation. There is also another very fashionable method called FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. But what is this movement?

A movement that promotes early retirement

The main idea of this movement is to save as much money as possible so that we can retire before the age of fifty. This lifestyle is based on living freely and leading a life without consumerism, getting rid of your expenses as soon as possible, leading a do-it-yourself life, controlling personal expenses, making a smart use of your investments, being practical, and above all, having a job we like. The profile of this curious movement is increasingly seen among young people who want to get out of the wheel to which the world is tied, young people who want to retire early so they can enjoy economic peace before they turn fifty by means of this peculiar movement.

Can you live well without being a millionaire?

The answer to this question is always focused on what we want to generate in life. It always depends on the lifestyle we want or how good a use we want to make of our economy. Money can have a very different meaning depending on how we use it. If a person earns an exorbitant salary, in no way will that mean that person is leading a life as a millionaire after some time. How many times have we read in press articles about famous actors and actresses who, after earning millions of dollars in their films, have been left with no money at all?

There is also the fact that the amount of millions a person has does not prove she or he is fully happy. Bhutan is the happiest country in the world, and this is proven, because this country, an independent South Asian kingdom and state, calculates the gross national happiness index, which measures the quality of life of the country according to custom preservation, environmental care, and economic growth.

The internet is full of blogs discussing whether money gives happiness. Money clearly helps us lead a calmer life, but that does not mean money brings us happiness. The Covid-19 pandemic has also accelerated social inequalities among the population. The world needs to reinvent itself and teach happiness in schools. Humanity has put on its face mask, behind which hides millions of eyes in need of a smile or a hug. Maybe we need to teach more how to live well with the necessary, than the obsession with becoming millionaires to solve our economic problems.

There is a sage who says the world is full of money, that we make good use of it, and then let it go free again as it was before it came to our hands. Having a bank account full of money does not make us happier or freer, and living well is linked to our way of being and knowing the world around us. As Bob Marley put it, “money can’t buy life.”

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