Originally posted by omshivaya Whenever I have had the thought that someday I shall buy that dream car of mine, the fact that I would rather spend it on some poor person comes to my mind and I feel really really guilty. Thanks to God here, that he has kept my conscience somehow nagging me, now and then so that I do not do something stupid.

Omji,
    I think you should reconsider this point. In one of the oldest investments books written- "The Richest Man of Babylon" the author says something like this...something like (pardon my writing while I try to mimic the anglo-saxon english).

"...Gold finds itself plentiful onto whom understands the laws of it and who seeks wisdom of men and makes it a slave for it to multiply and grow like the flocks of cattle. For those who don't understand the laws of gold, it shall flee them between their fingers. Any gold that one rightfully earns or awarded to thee is rightfully his and he shall not be obligated to part with it for those who don't understand its laws. For it is the duty of the one who knows it to abide by the laws of it..."

Where gold is generally referred to as wealth of any kind.

You don't have to feel 'guilty' to spend your own money. It is rightfully earned and you deserve to spend it when you are ready. By this I don't mean that one should not give charity. Charity could be part of your wealth. Don't avoid spending, feeling guilty.

I don't agree with what Jim Rogers did. I would prefer losing an opportunity to make family members unhappy, as long as I can afford it and is reasonable.

I would like to die as dissatisfied Socrates than a pig satisfied.

- Socrates

Originally posted by tyler_durden i understand your point...its absolutely fine to multiply your money but after a certain point of time and after making certain amount of money one should enjoy better things in life.... one must walk on the sand before resting on a silk carpet ... so spending money on luxuries in the begining of one's life is not advisable but if one has worked hard and has built assets for himself then there is no harm in spending the hard earned money.... i have observed this trend that people who make money from equities or via investment generally don't put lot of money in luxuries e.g: buffet, jhunjhunwala and basant ji ... whereas businessmen like: vijay mallaya, bill gates, mukesh ambani etc prefer super luxuries...maybe investors know the magic of compounding and are reluctant to lose the future value of money....and businessmen are confident of generating lots of cashflow to meet the expenses bought upon by their luxuries....... and where buffet finds interest is tough to identify: still living in his old house, driving old beatle, no space trips, no islands, no yachts, i think he has no interests except investing

Tyler,
Buffet is like that only. I don't think he would change his tastes or preferences because of what others think.  BTW, He actually drives a Cadillac now. He used to drive a Lincoln Town Car with the Lic plates THRIFTY.


The question is do we have our posessions ? or Do our posessions have us ?