Sometimes when I tell people about my retire young plan, I receive a lot of negative feedback. Some people think I am greedy, and others want to know why I think money is just so darn important; they tend to recite the "money can't buy you happiness" phrase.
I think a lot about why money is so important to me, and I only came to one conclusion.
Money certainly can't buy or guarantee happiness, but it can sure buy me freedom. More importantly, it can buy me the freedom to leave.
Because I have money, I can leave all sorts of sticky situations.
For example:
Case 1: You can leave your job! If you had money, the only reason you would stay at a job is because you love it. You sure don't need to do it for the money.
Case 2: You can leave a bad relationship! If you had money, you could stay because you wanted to stay.
Case 3: You can leave the town, city, state, province, or country! You can practically be anywhere you wish to be.
Money is a huge factor in people's decisions regarding employment, relationships, and where to live (among other things). At one point or another, we all have felt the obligation to stay put due to a lack of money.
I like the freedom to leave, the ultimate freedom to choose who I want to be with and where I want to be. Realistically, it is awfully hard to achieve this without the help of money.
If I do stay put, whether it be a relationship or a location to live, you can be sure that it is because I want to, not because I feel forced to.
