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Please help me understand the thoughts of people who actually want (for example) $20 Billion Dollars. Depending on where you live, wouldn't $5M be about enough?

"Poor man wanna be rich,
Rich man wanna be king,
And a king ain't satisfied,
'til he rules everything..." ~The Boss

Could you be happy (for example) in a comfortable middle-class life? In case you do not know, excess money can create related problems. Seriously, why would anyone want $20 Billion Dollars?

$1 Billion gives a bit more security than $5 million. You can do a bit more with it without worrying about the loss of funds for certain things.
It's true, that $5 million would sustain people quite well. It was said that $2-3 million is the average amount someone spends in a rich country in their lifetime so that is all that is really necessary (this is also the amount earnt).

There is also an issue that if you do get $5 million or more, you don't need to work and if you don't need to work then you have to find other ways to preoccupy yourself and it just turns into something where lots of people hate work, however, lots of people would also hat eto be paid to do nothiing and live in isolation for the rest of their lives (ie. everyone else you know works and you just spend many hours on your own and get to a point where you either have to work or get extremely bored and lonely further than you already have been from when you got the $5 million).

And it is true that everyone wants more than they can't have (generally).

Different people - different needs/wants. Lots of billionaires don't spend any significant part of their wealth on themselves but rather invest or donate to charity.

$5 million doesn't go as far as you think. I'd rather have $100 million invested in a solid business that can provide for me (and 100 employees).

And some people just like working, whether the money is the goal or they like the work and the money is a side benefit. I know my own retirement goals have shifted over the years because my idea of retirement has changed.

There is really no point to having over a few million dollars.  Once your basic needs are met, extra money won't do much for you.  I consider people like jeff bezos and bill gates to be real psychos.  Bezos treats his workers like slaves.  Bill Gate's "foundation" is nothing more than a depopulation, vaccine giving, evil money fund.

It's mostly just a power thing.  Billionaires wan't the power to control how the government makes laws.

Personally I would be satisfied with the knowledge that I have enough money to lead a comfortable middle-class life for the rest of my life. I might have exactly that now, but things can change pretty fast. Those who are chasing $20bn are either doing it out of greed, a need for security or a combination of both. Both $20bn and $5m are very relative given the bigger picture. E.g. there were plenty of billionaires and even trillionaires in Zimbabwe during their currency crisis, yet the majority had a hard time to survive.

Wait, why not? What's the difference between accepting 5 million and 20 billion? You're gonna be rich and able to buy virtually anything in boty scenarios. But yeah I can see the problem, with 20 billions there is a lot of responsability involved.

$5 million I can't even guess how to spend all of those money it could be a lot of money in my country even $500K would be large sum of money, and $20 Billion that's really great but the problem is within the amount of that because with that sum of money you would think of a lot things like how to save and secure the funds in other words below average middle class have nothing to worry in terms of money management because they only think of daily expenses.

Where Ignorance is bliss ~Thomas Gray

5 mln is more than enough to have a great life, but why won't you want to have more? Nothing really wrong with that, it opens up tons of new possibilities. What if someones dream is to buy an NBA franchise? 5 mln$ is not nearly enough for this ::) I mean the end goal for every person is to be happy, and if making money makes someone happier than actually spending it, than they should do just that.

Depending on where you live a house could easily cost above $5M.


Yes.


Then they can do things like this : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2418909.0 .


That sounds like an extremely cyncical view of life. There is more to life than meeting your basic needs.


There are paintings that cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
$5M will disappear if all you're trying to do is live comfortably in an expensive American city within a few years.

That sounds like an extremely cyncical view of life. There is more to life than meeting your basic needs.


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The extra money won't do much for you.  Of course there is more to life, but it does not involve material goods.

Money goes beyond material goods. It is not limited to buying expensive cars, paintings or goods. You are able to develop entire nations, cultures and acquire the means to achieve your dreams with enough money. I disagree entirely that "extra money won't do much for you." If you believe that emotional connections are not influenced by money, and what money is able to accomplish then you are being disingenous. The extra money gives you access to better resources, more effective people, connections, technology, the list goes on and on.

Are all of these things in the category of "not much" for you? I see these all as very significant, they would do much for me.

Good points but sadly most of the wealthy people do nothing to help their communities. Jeff Bezos is worth over 100 billion dollars but hes is threatening Seattle that Amazon will leave because of a homeless tax helping fund.  A guy worth 150 billion dollars won't even help homeless people, sad world we live in.

Sultan of brunei is a greedy pig who owns thousands of expensive cars and lives in a 2 million square foot palace while people around the world can't even survive.

Individuals that you deem to be greedy, selfish people are irrelevant to the good that money can do. It is a tool, and a fundamental tool within our world if you are to achieve any consensual transaction with another human being.

Bezos donated $33M in one donation, more money than I will likely ever make in my life. Has that money not helped anyone, any community or done any benevolence? It is easy to point fingers and say "these people could do more", but realistically they've done more than you will ever do.

Almost everything you have access to is because of a successful and altruistic (to some degree) individual. I agree that there are a disproportionate amount of wealthy people that provide nothing beyond economic speculation, political manipulation or inheritance of a particular bloodline. These are unfortunate cases, but what characterizes the success of people like Bezos or Gates is the ability to bring something of value to a great deal of people in a way that has presumably made their lives better. Without their customers directly benefiting there would be no profit, and in this way they help whatever community they interact with. Of course, there is always an equal and opposite reaction and no good deed goes unpunished.

Personally I'd rather live in hunter gatherer time even if I lived a shorter life. Life would be more fulffilling to me.   Bezos donated 33 million dollars, but what percent of his net worth at that?  I've donated 100x the amount he has if you look at the percentage I've donated compared to my net worth.

Don't say there is only profit in helping customers.  Pharmaceutical companies and defense contractors make money off wars and  by poisoning people with harmful drugs.

There is no middle class.

It's done, for your information:
http://fortune.com/2016/07/13/middle-class-death/
https://medium.com/social-club/the-myth-of-the-middle-class-5fbd37256b13

Being happy is relative and dependent on the individual, his culture, his religion, his mindset e.t.c

I have always argued this with people back home to be some sort of conspiracy theory against Bill. The so called evil money fund is responsible for the total elimination of polio in my country, an act the corrupt ridden government has failed to do despite the huge resources and funds at its disposal.

They cry depopulation and I laugh. For the sake of argument, let's agree there's a depopulation agenda by Bill's foundation, in my opinion it worths it in my home country. You find people who can barely survive on $1 a day marrying 2 to 3 wives and giving birth to 10, 15, 20 children. Who will feed them? Who will pay their school fees? Who will pay their medical bills when they fall sick? Who checks on these kids as they grow up and become nuisance to the society as they as easily absorbed into criminal and terrorist organization!

Even when you want to live a glamorous life, I think that $20 Billion would be just too much for the it. Having a private plane and your own mega yacht as a well as your own island wouldn’t even cost $1 Billions.

Seriously this is a serious question, why would anyone want 20 billion $. The truth is we as human we are all insatiable, always wanting more.
This is just the life we are in, take for example a scammer scammed people off 5 million $ without been caught, which will be ok for him for the rest of his life but then he continues scamming people until things goes wrong for him.
For me i believe it takes the grace of God and a sense of security outside the security money can give for any human to be satiable.

Guys, we are all so poor that our dreams don´t extend beyond "a few millions". There are things out there that are really cool and cost much more. Not that I know of many, but if you want to f*king cry go here (https://www.privateislandsonline.com/search?availability=sale)

See... confortable middle class now looks terribly boring, don´t you think?

Some of those look very affordable, like only an order of magnitude more than a house in a decent neighborhood. What's the catch? No high-speed internet? Commute 100 miles by boat? Island-owners association fees?

Ooh please even the most expensive is not even up to a billion dollar.
We talking of 20 billion here.

Stupid question: what stops your island being invaded?
On a more realistic point if your island is just off a country, the country gets taken over (say it's a hostile country) can your island be forfeited - I suppose this is the same as regular land.

Therefore, once you buy your island, you might need to employ guards or people to patrol it - unless you make a network of tunnels and just hide below the surface forever but that's not a great idea (you might end up stranded).

$72M isn't that bad for an island.

I would assume that despite being private it's still part of some country like a regular private plot of land in some suburb and not a sovereign entity. So I shouldn't need to have my own army. But it probably implies another catch: taxes, particularly property taxes.

When substantial amount of money gets into the hands of a greedy person most people suffer. Society is such that some people may have to depend on others for survival(The sick,war-torn countries,Highly impoverished people etc). I believe anyone with a good heart should strive to have as much money as possible so that they can help other people in the aforementioned domain. Society develops and gets better when we help each other. 20 billion in the hands of a greedy man will be detrimental to society, but any good amount of money in the hands of a good person helps to reshape society greatly.

The affordable ones are in cold areas of Canada or in the middle of nowhere or you probably cannot build there... The cheapest one is like 250k or so...

Yes of course, you own the island, but it is not your own country. If someone invades your Island in, lets say, Dubai, they are effectively breaking the law of Dubai.

Gentlemen, I suggest you look into the story of Hetty Green (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hetty_Green) if you're not already familiar with her.  She basically lived the life of a miser, living in an old apartment in New Jersey whilst being one of the richest people on Wall Street.

Everything depends on your standard of living, and it's that standard that determines whether $5 billion or $5 million would be enough to live comfortably.  Some people just cannot stop spending money, and they buy the best of everything until they have nothing left.  Remember Ken Lay of Enron fame?  He was earning tens of millions of dollars A YEAR, and it still wasn't enough to support his lifestyle.

So yeah, for me $5 million would be waaaay more than enough to live like a pimp.  $20 bln would be overkill.

So I can buy 25% of all the BTC and hodl. ;D

Now  seriously, I think that it all depends on your social status and your character.
Average person doesn't need more than a paid off house and a retirement money on the side big enough for some decent life.
I mean we all need some small amount for our basic needs.
After "basic needs"- level comes the "security"-level money and "the final stage" is when you're losing your mind because you're doing stupid things and there's nobody to stop you. Something like Johnny Depp. He's not a billionaire but he's a good example. You don't need billions to lose yourself.
It's a thin line between rich, rich stupid and rich burnout. All of them have money but very few of them are truly happy.

Most of us think that when you have all the money in the world you can do anything and you'll live forever blah blah..
Yes, your appetites and needs grow when you have more money. Also your horizons broaden because you can afford the experiences that you couldn't before. But many lose their way because they can't control the bad habits. It's easy to became an addict when you have loads of money and no one to stop you. Everything is at the tip of your hands and that's the receipt for destruction. At that level only your character can save you. And if you have a good character you don't need billions, few mill would suffice and you'll live good enough. Being dirty rich isn't good for your health although you can afford the best healthcare. And one thing is interesting that when you have money you lose friends. The more money you get the less friends you have. Your true and honest friends get replaced by money hungry "persons". Also there's the security issues and the depression. Why would half of the rich dudes be depressed if they can afford anything?..

But what is the point then? Do we want money just so we can buy a house and a car, food, boose and spend the rest on some other stupid things? How much do we really need, a hundred, a mill or a bill?
I mentioned happiness earlier, isn't that the point of your existence?
To be happy and live a stress-free life.
Can money help with that? Yeah.
Can money destroy you and turn everyone around you to money hungry monsters? Yeah x2.
Billions destroy people. Money gives power and lots of money=lots of power. You can do ether good or bad with power and that depends on your character. And one more thing, money doesn't corrupt people, that's bull. If a person is bad it's bad even without the money but that comes into light when the first opportunity arises.

So be very careful with what you wish for cuz maybe, when you become a gazillionair, you'll find out that you're not such a good guy after all.

Who else in this world don't want more money. I think we should be satisfied in what we have. As long as we are healthy, happy and always safe.

For the mega wealthy I would guess it's not really about the lifestyle but rather the power and influence. At a certain point the money is just numbers because in reality 20 billion is too much for anyone. So then it comes down to power, influence and Ego. I think a lot of billionaires lose touch with the real world and also lose a lot of empathy in the process. Murdoch can go to a casino and drop 5 million on one hand of poker or roulette wheel (yes it happens)...thats just disgusting considering what good that money could do.

For many that kind of money or the path of getting to the point of having that kind of money turns you into an Ass@#le.

I would love to have my own archipielago  ;D

That´s a famous case yes. Oh... some people just can´t avoid spending money. In my case, I just can avoid earning it  ;D 8)

I already know that I am not a "good guy", money would just make me even more happy of not being so.

I've never understood the lack of imagination with people, perhaps that makes me weird. Most people think of money in terms of "me", what it can do for "my life". I on the other hand see huge problems in government, science, and society generally, problems that I could easily devote $20 billion to. Setting up private cancer research labs with my own management methodology would be a start. I'd appoint the leader of the research team as some esteemed scientist, however I'd act as an overseer of sorts to ensure efficiency was there. I believe efficiency is lacking everywhere - in research, corporations, and in governments. Efficiency cannot be lacking however in SMEs. In SME's, efficiency is necessary for survival.

In essence, I'd use $20 billion to bring the efficiency that entrepreneurs and stary-eyed visionaries have to huge, important, multi-billion dollar areas that urgently need it for the progression of our species. This wouldn't be an entire bleeding-heart altruistic thing either, I'd want to be selfishly rewarded for it in some way, but not too much either.  A balance between becoming a King and helping mankind could be struck. A benevolent dictator of sorts. Give me $20 trillion, and I could still use it. $20 billion isn't even the tip of the iceberg.

So, there is your answer from someone that wants $20 billion dollars.

That lady was a interesting read, thanks for posting that.  Mike Tyson blew  300million, but a lot of that was stolen from  him by his manager and financial advisors.

So many lottery winners go broke since the kind of people playing the lottery are usually not good with money or making smart decisions considering how low the odds are.

It's called greed... Wanting such amounts of money serves only one purpose; feeding the Ego.

First of all look at the amount of income you can get without touching the capitsl. Second you could of course use that money to do something good for an area or organisation. Imagine what Oxfam and the Red Cross could do with 10 billion dollars each ( or 100 million a year) how many water wells in Africa does that build?

That's not the whole idea.
You have 5 billion, is this the point where you have to stop? I was thinking like you years ago but I have changed my mind. Look, you did your best ans got it, you still have to expect much from life. Also there is psychological aspect here, danger of losing money. That's main idea what pushes you to earn more and more like nonstop. Then you'll ask, what about to give income over 5 billion to charity and etc. I would answer that person has to earn him/herself. The only way I agree charity is if it's used for education - yeah, that's the biggest investment for whole society.
On another hand it's very, very attractive and more wilder than gambling, being a billionare is achievement, very hard and less possible.

20 billion dollars-this is certainly a huge amount and most people on the planet do not know how and where to spend them for a lifetime, but in fact correctly wrote the author the richer the person so he greedy and the more his appetites grow. According to many studies, the ideal income on average is 95 thousand dollars per year per person. It is this amount that allows a person to feel wealthy. The feeling of emotional well-being comes after earning 60-75 thousand dollars a year. For a family, this figure can be much higher.
Interestingly, for residents of different countries and continents desired amount of annual income varies significantly. Thus, the total satisfaction with the life of Australians can be achieved with an annual income of 125 thousand dollars (7.2 million rubles). For residents of North America is the optimal amount of 105 thousand dollars (6 million rubles), for Europeans — an average of 100 thousand dollars (5.7 million rubles), for residents of Southeast Asia-70 thousand dollars (4 million rubles), for residents of Eastern Europe — 45 thousand dollars (2.5 million rubles), for Latin Americans — 35 thousand dollars per year per person (2 million rubles).
After reaching the optimal amount, priorities change: now people often compare themselves with other people, and increased desires often diverge from the limited opportunities. Also, do not forget that high income is associated with a greater workload and responsibility, and the time for rest becomes much less. So wherever you spend your money remember the main thing to always be a man and remember your loved ones.

You know what, I've always wanted to be rich, and I'm sure many people here also want to be rich, but I think it's rare to find a person that has ever thought about wanting 20 billion dollars. That's such an extreme amount.

I'd like to accelerate the spread of knowledge.

With $20,000,000,000 I could open a "Flying Spaghetti" Monster temple in every city and  beside every large church, and educate people about brainwashing while feeding them free pasta - the body of my lord.

https://www.venganza.org/

It depends on the person. Personally if I had 20 billion dollars I honestly think I would not spend it partying, and put it towards changing the world. Of course I will also get me a super model hot girlfriend. But I think my focus would be more on changing the world.

No wonder you can lick your own boob. ;D

Don´t forget that you need to get there

https://www.avbuyer.com/aircraft/private-jets (https://www.avbuyer.com/aircraft/private-jets)

https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts-for-sale (https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts-for-sale)

Your question seems to be about what you can do with a certain amount of money... for yourself. But why can't it be about what you can do not only for yourself but for others ?
You say that with 20 billions you could be a king ? Maybe I don't wanna be a king, maybe I just want to help change the world.
If your "thing" is animals, open lots of shelters.
If your thing is to help autistic people, imagine what you could do with 20 billions.
And maybe you have more than one thing : homeless people, cities destroyed by a natural disaster, helping third world regions to develop...there is so much to do !

There's got to be a cause you believe in and there is never enough money to help.

5 millions is more than enough for one person (duh !) but 20 billions is far from enough if you want to make this world a better place.

,it is a matter of contentment in life. some would prefer to be middle class to have more freedom than any high profile persona, but some also would prefer to be more than what they achieve, maybe because of something we don't know about, each one has their own goals in life, they also have their own reasons why they want this and that.

because it's human nature...he is not satisfied until it fulfills his demands....

With US$20 billion and your own religion you can also afford to do lots more marketing and get even more money and solve world hunger with free pasta.

One colander at a time.

https://www.venganza.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Collander_sm.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/315ilJO.png

If you lived in Zimbabwe before their currency went out of existence you would have wanted more than $20 billion. Since a $100 Trillion banknote was worth around US$300 (When issued) Now they are a novelty sold on eBay.

https://i.imgur.com/QXFCYOB.png

At least with $20 billion dollars you could actually buy a small item. $5 million you could staple together (if you had lower denominations) and use it as a notepad. (Although you may not be able to afford the staple)

https://i.imgur.com/pz9eswt.png

Taking your wallet was painful.

https://i.imgur.com/2OsicHQ.jpg

But the answer of why someone would want $20 billion also depends on where you rank on the Selfish / Selfless scale.

https://i.imgur.com/upjmaX2.jpg

On one side would be private golf course, helicopters, mansions and power.
On the other side of the scale would be solving the worlds problems and power to make those changes.


So the short answer would be : Power, control and things. Things for your self or things for others. With a preference for US$

The other answer could be - if you were Satoshi - to create a revolutionary crypto currency that will change the world and leave that value stored in bitcoin  wallets untouched so that there is confidence, scarcity of supply and growth (and change the world).

For now, even 20 billion dollars would do, even less but your point taken exactly even after getting that I'd still won't be happy and would want more, is just the greed of human nature to become God like

There's no such thing as money.When a person has a lot of money he has more requests.But the more money a person the more he is experiencing for them and that's bad

Well, we all have our own wants and needs but I get what you are saying. It is just that to be honest, people are allowed to want 20 billion dollars just because they want.

If you were to offer me to choose between $5 million and $20 billion, of course I'll choose the latter. I know that I would not be able to use it all for myself, but I can give away to charity and the homeless all the excess. I can invest in tons of businesses, help out small ones, and just generally help other people out while having more than enough myself.

Its funny to see hoow many people say that if they had the money in questions they'll not only think about themselves but about saving/changing the world. I believe this thought would not longer exist once presented with the money because just then you realize how much more you need as an individual - its just being human!

when 5 million and 20$ billion, of course, 20 $ billion will be an option, but someone will never be satisfied with what is owned, but we will feel proud if it is real, but this is just a funny dream

Who said they want 20 billion? I doubt many people actually want to be billionaires or would know what to do with all that money if they had it. Mo' money mo' problems as they say. The average person wouldn't really be able to spend it all anyway. Personally I'd be happy with a few million. All I want out of life is a nice abode and enough money to be comfortable with till the end of my days. Maybe a bit extra to go traveling or whatnot.


I would be careful buying an island. Some of them you can't even build anything on... as in you're not allowed. Imagine shelling out a few mill for an island then just camping on the beach  ;D. They'd probably be some restriction about that as well due to wildlife conservation or some other bullshit.

It depends on the person. Some people just want $200 dollars so that they could take pictures with it and post it on Facebook. I would hate is such a person suddenly had 20 billion because they are of a frivolous, insecure kind of mindset.

But a person like a Mother Teresa could do wonders for the world with 20 billion dollars.

I perhaps could invest on something that could change the world for the better, but that people don't really care about because it's not a faster processor, of content consumption device.

why did Hitler want to take over the world? some people are really insatiable.

Power. Money = power these days, but I think Hitler's motives were merely more tyrannical and megalomaniac than pure greed. For instance, there are many greedy people on this planet that want more money and the power that comes along with it, but most wouldn't murder millions for it. Most millionaires or the super rich are happy with their mansions and islands but likely have no interest in genocide and war.

The middle-class is not completely gone, but there is a lot of stress and fear in many places.

A $20 Billion dollars is an ocean of money and why would anyone want such a huge amount? It is simple, because there is no end to human wants. So long as a man breathes, there is no limit to his wants, forgetting that they are insatiable.

Money is needed so much to be ignored, but it is not 20 billion but much less but how much is another question. :)

I’m not sure I’d need 20 billion dollars, but I could spend 4 billion no problem. Professional sports franchise, mansion, vacation mansion, toys, starting my dream company, donating to my favorite charities, paying off all the debts of my friends and family... It would be spent before the check cleared.

I need 20 Bilion dollars to temper my food cravings.

Guys, we are all so poor that our dreams don´t extend beyond "a few millions". There are things out there that are really cool and cost much more. Not that I know of many, but if you want to f*king cry go here

See... confortable middle class now looks terribly boring,

Honestly I can't see any reason why ANYONE would need 20$ billion dollars. It's so much freaking money when you think about it. I could probably retire off 2M @ age 30 and get by okay. There's not really any need for nice jewelry, nice cars, nice houses among other things in reality. It's just stuff we as people want, not a necessity.. yet you got multi-billionaires and multi-millionaires spending millions like it's candy when most people make 30K a year most times less.

No 1 person needs more then 1 billion dollars, like come on what could you possibly do with the 1000 million? If the rich 1% of the planet got together and donated the majority of their money around the world and the money was managed properly there would probably be no poverty, and they'd probably still have excess money.

At reading some books about personal development and about millionaires, I´ve seen most of millionaires don´t work because of money. At the moment one reachs any level of wealth, they say that they just LOVE and LIKE what they do. So, when you make what you love and what it´s the passion for you the money start to arrive by itself. The thought about "this amount of money is enough for me" it just shows that kind of people work FOR MONEY and no because they love what they are doing.

With such amount of money you have power to change not only your life, not only life of your family, neighbourhood, city but whole region/ country. 


People are different, not everyone thinks the way you do, lots of people don't make a lot but they still try and make an impact on the society, trying to "save/ change the world", so if one of such persons would get $$$ why would they change their behaviour?
There is a saying that you can't buy friends - but I think there are exceptions, if you do a lot of good things for people around you, you can "buy" friendship not only from them but also from other people who see your good deeds. And a lot people want to be popular, they want to be celebrities - so by "saving the world" they are buying something, just not a material thing.
And one more thing, by "saving/ changing the world" you can still make money, for example you may do something in better way than other companies - e.g. in the fields of ecology, fair trade etc.

I only want to have huge money or to be rich only because to be free from such hectic schedule due to works and deadline of proposals and any business related things. What makes me happy is that giving a huge part of my money/income to those who are in need, and a part of it for opening unique and trendy business for my money to grow, and a little part of it for my own and my family's primary needs, and it wouldn't be used for luxuries and unimportant things. It all depends on one's mindset with handling huge amount of money over their happiness and enjoyment.

Although it could create serious problems, It all depends on one's mindset of how he/she would hand and use huge amount of money over spending it for both happiness and needs.

but in the vast majority of cases someone who's 'worth' 20 billion could never actually realise it. what do you think would happen to the amazon share price if jeff bezos decided he wanted nothing but dollars?

he'd wind up much less of a billionaire by the time he was done selling.

Bezos owns less than 20 percent of Amazon, even if he sold all his share the price wouldn't crash that much.  There are countless hedge funds waiting to buy more Amazon stock at a lower price.

He could easily have 100 billion in cash if he desired.

I think it depends on each people because we all have our own level of happiness, there are people who don’t know how to be satisfied in a way, but im sure there are a lot people who are satisfied of whatever they have now. It’s always a matter of happiness in this life.