Recently I came across this book “MoneyZen – The Secret to Finding Your Enough” by Manisha Thakor and it was a timely reminder for me to reflect on this question.
In today’s world of hustle culture where many of us constantly strive to do more, be more and have more, it can be easy to lose sight of how much is really enough in our lives.
In the book, the author examines the emotional, social and even biological reasons why so many people fall into what she terms the Cult of Never Enough.
She advocates for “MoneyZen,” the balance of financial health and emotional wealth, which resonates deeply with me.
Here are some of the takeaways that struck a chord with me, both on a personal level and also in the conversations I have with clients around their financial planning:
Your Self-Worth is not your Net Worth
In a world that celebrates success in numbers, it’s easy to fall into the trap of equating personal value with financial achievements. But just like how your job title is not your identity, our true worth lies beyond the digits in our bank accounts. It’s about our relationships, contributions, and the impact we leave behind.
Money Worries vs. Money Problems
This is a powerful distinction. Through my years as a financial planner, I’ve seen many high-income professionals who don’t have real money problems e.g actual lack of funds, yet they find themselves worrying about money e.g insecurity of “what if” or feeling the need to amass more wealth.
The book challenges us to reframe this mindset, focusing on gratitude and clarity about what truly matters.
MoneyZen – the intersection of Financial Health and Emotional Wealth
Financial health represents what you require to meet your baseline economic needs and feel comfortable. If you have a healthy cashflow i.e meet your expenses, pay your bills on time and still have some money left over to cover an emergency and set aside for the future, chances are you have financial health.
Emotional wealth, on the other hand, is about living a full intentional life, one that brings you joy and makes your heart sing. For some it may be spending time with their loved ones, for others it may be exploring places, enjoying music or art
MoneyZen is when you are able to meet your core financial needs while also seeking out the experiences and connections that bring you joy – that’s a place where life feels most meaningful and balanced.
How Much is Enough?
This is a question that often gets asked by my clients especially when it comes to retirement planning. The answer is that there’s no universal number, because it depends on what brings YOU joy and fulfillment.
This is why I always start my retirement planning process with a conversation on your retirement vision. Some questions to consider are “What do you see yourself doing in retirement? e.g would you be working or fully retired?” “Who would you spend your time with and how would you feel?”
Instead of aiming for an arbitrary figure, align your retirement goals with what genuinely lights you up and work towards that, either on your own or with the help of a financial advisor.
The Power of Subtraction
It may sound counter-intuitive, but finding your “enough” often involves doing less, not more. It’s about subtracting the unnecessary to uncover what truly matters.
One way is to perform a “Joy Audit” of where we are spending your money over a period of time and review which are the things we spent on that didn’t bring us joy and so we can clarify on what’s meaningful to us.
For example, when my client started tracking her expenses over a few months, she realised she was unknowingly spending so much on online shopping and buying things that didn’t actually bring her a lot of joy. On the contrary, she just ended up with a lot of unnecessary stuff, some of which she totally forgot about and ended up expiring useless.
Final Thoughts
We all have 2 limited resources – Time and Money.
At the end of the day, I believe our lives isn’t about striving endlessly to add more zeros to our bank balances. It’s about creating financial flexibility to pursue what truly lights us up.
The book “MoneyZen – The Secret to Finding Your Enough” has been an insightful and relatable read which I would highly recommend!
To Your Success and Happiness (and finding your MoneyZen ;),
Yong Hui
