{"id":3911,"date":"2016-11-21T06:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/?p=3911"},"modified":"2016-11-21T05:58:08","modified_gmt":"2016-11-21T13:58:08","slug":"feel-rich-thanksgiving-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/feel-rich-thanksgiving-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Feel Rich: A Thanksgiving Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/I_am_thankful_for.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3912 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/I_am_thankful_for-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Picture of blackboard with writing\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/I_am_thankful_for-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/I_am_thankful_for-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/I_am_thankful_for-622x415.jpg 622w, https:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/I_am_thankful_for-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/I_am_thankful_for.jpg 849w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The Thanksgiving holiday occurs this week, which maybe seems unrelated to the topic of how to feel rich, but a nice connection exists, so let me explain.<\/p>\n<p>A few months ago, physician, author and blogger Jim Dahle posted an interesting essay at his popular White Coat Investor blog about four techniques or <a href=\"http:\/\/whitecoatinvestor.com\/four-rules-i-followed-to-get-wealthy\/\">rules he followed to\u00a0become rich<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The post summarizes some interesting points\u2014and provides an example of stuff we\u2019ve talked about in posts here like \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/smart-wealth-strategies-of-the-one-percent\/\">Smart Wealth Strategies of\u00a0the Top One Percent<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But to me, the really interesting element of Dr. Dahle\u2019s essay is not that he\u2019s become rich through hard work and\u00a0intelligence, common sense and good luck. No, the interesting part to me is that Dahle <em>feels<\/em> rich. He <em>feels<\/em> wealthy.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s weird about that? Well, a couple of things. Many people with high incomes and impressive net worth don\u2019t feel rich or wealthy. Even though they are. And then often people with high income or high wealth feel (mostly) stressed. Or financially insecure. Or like runners in a rat race.<\/p>\n<p>Dahle, to his great credit doesn\u2019t feel this way. And with an eye toward the Thanksgiving holiday, I\u2019d like to suggest three reasons why I think this is maybe the case. Some good general principles fall out Dahle\u2019s story\u2026<\/p>\n<h2>Generosity Fuels an Abundance Mentality<\/h2>\n<p>A first idea? Charity and generosity count as awfully\u00a0healthy habits for people who want to feel rich.<\/p>\n<p>When Dahle talked in his blog post about his charitable giving, he ignited a bit of a kerfuffle.\u00a0 People argued for a mathematical truth that if you give money away (even to someone who really needs it or really deserves it), you have less money. As a result, you are by definition less wealthy.<\/p>\n<p>But maybe the point is<em> to feel<\/em> rich. And maybe charity and generosity do help us with that feeling. I kind of think so.<\/p>\n<p>Charity and generosity\u2014and here I\u2019m just a guy making an observation\u2014can\u00a0positively feed an abundance mentality. An attitude of gratitude. A sense of sated-ness.<\/p>\n<p>The neat thing about charity and generosity as habits that lead to a feeling of riches or wealth? You don\u2019t need a ton of money or scads of time to exercise these habits. You\u00a0 just need a generous spirit and a kind heart.<\/p>\n<h2>Spending Less Than We Earn Creates Financial Space<\/h2>\n<p>Another idea from the White Coat Investor blog concerning feeling rich or wealthy: Dahle spends less than he earns (a lot less actually). And that means he and his family aren\u2019t seeing their expenses bump up against their income at the end of the month.<\/p>\n<p>Something healthy happens to our financial mindsets, I think, when we\u2019ve got a cushion like that. That cushion enhances a feeling of financial freedom.<\/p>\n<p>But that makes sense, right? You or I can make only a little bit of money, an average amount, or even a lot of money.<\/p>\n<p>But if we spend everything we make\u2014no matter how big our incomes\u2014we\u2019re going to feel stretched and stressed and like we don\u2019t really have enough and actually need just a little bit more please.<\/p>\n<p>The good part of this insight? Most everybody can with a little more discipline over time spend less\u2026 and that should over time enhance\u00a0feelings of richness and abundance.<\/p>\n<h2>Simpler Portfolios Dial Down\u00a0Wealth Worries<\/h2>\n<p>And a final, quick point: While managing wealth often burdens people with surprising levels of work and stress, the passive, tax-efficient, low-cost approach to investing promoted at the White Coat Investor blog probably also nicely contributes to a feeling of riches and abundance.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Dahle&#8217;s investing strategy, with its index funds and tax-deferred accounts, doesn&#8217;t burden him with a bunch of complexity or hassle or extra fiddle-faddling. He&#8217;s got his portfolio mostly on &#8220;autopilot.&#8221; That is a really smart approach. And you and I can take important cues from him.<\/p>\n<p>And here I\u2019m going to end. I\u2019ve got to help get ready for the big family get together in a few days.<\/p>\n<p>Happy Thanksgiving to you, your family and your friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Thanksgiving holiday occurs this week, which maybe seems unrelated to the topic of how to feel rich, but a nice connection exists, so let me explain. A few months ago, physician, author and blogger Jim Dahle posted an interesting essay at his popular White Coat Investor blog about four techniques or rules he followed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Feel Rich: A Thanksgiving Essay - Evergreen Small Business<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/feel-rich-thanksgiving-essay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Feel Rich: A Thanksgiving Essay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Thanksgiving holiday occurs this week, which maybe seems unrelated to the topic of how to feel rich, but a nice connection exists, so let me explain. 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