I have accomplished a lot in my life. Degrees, awards, money, books, etc. I am pretty proud of my accomplishments—I have a very long and illustrious curriculum vitae. Is that how I measure my contribution to this world? No, it is not. I think back to my time at Lehman Brothers. I was an ETF trader, a block trader, providing liquidity in exchange-traded funds to hedge funds and other institutions. If I saved a client $10,000 on a trade, that was $10,000 that was passed along to investors, which were often rich people, but also pension funds for teachers and firemen and stuff. The job wasn’t socially useless. Providing liquidity in the financial markets is an important function, but it’s easy to lose sight of that. You are very disconnected from your positive impact on other people. I never got any thank-you notes from the teachers or firemen. Still, after a day of knife-fighting with hedge funds, it certainly did feel like a socially useless job, and after a while, you start to think about your purpose in life, and you start to believe the people in Zuccotti Park who think you are a drain on society.
I adore Jared Dillion, I first came across him giveing financial information on Real Vision...I enjoyed his salt of the earth approach. I love reading his short stories which cause me to pause and think not just go through the day mindlessly. My husband and I bought his recent book, No Worries How to live a Stress Free Financial Life, can't wait to read it..I'm an Emergency Room Physician, but, Jared Dillian down to earth advice has changed my approach to life, money is not end all, ball..What really is what I can do to help humanity, even just one person at a time....Keep up the work Jarred Dillen....
It's hard to argue with the value of helping others in some small or large way. I work in dental implants/prosthetics and see first-hand the importance of giving people their smiles back.
I agree with most of this, but the section about whether you are rich is the most out of touch thing I've read in a long while.
I am one of the public servants you discuss, a public defender with a wife who stays home to raise 2 kids. I make median income for the US, and I consider us rich. We live better than the most of the world, and I am thankful for that every day.
You are talking about owning multiple properties in luxury places and flying private as if those are normal, modest needs. You presumably have a net worth in the many millions. You are unthinkably and unfathomably rich compared to the rest of the world, undoubtedly in the 1%.
It's laudable that you are trying to give back, but hopefully you can recognize how incredibly privileged you are compared to the average person in US but especially globally.
I really enjoyed No Worries and I’m going to buy copies for my young adult kids. Succinct and valuable advice. I am a nurse practitioner and help people through my work every day, but I’ve been focusing on the ones I couldn’t help in the recent years. Thanks for the reminder to focus on those I do help every day!
I recently gave up my well-paying job as a copy editor in the financial newsletter industry and became a non-medical caregiver. Is taking care of elderly people more rewarding than editing investment newsletters? You bet. Does it pay the bills (even for someone who lives frugally)? Not even close. So I'm gonna have to find a second paid gig to make ends meet. The goal is to also still have time to do my own writing and (self-)publish some books. I feel God has given me a chance to do something else with my life. I can only hope that I'll make the best of it. Though if this doesn't work out within a few months (aka, before my savings run out), I'll have to get another full-time job that's more lucrative, something I'd like to avoid. We'll see what happens. Wish me luck.
I adore Jared Dillion, I first came across him giveing financial information on Real Vision...I enjoyed his salt of the earth approach. I love reading his short stories which cause me to pause and think not just go through the day mindlessly. My husband and I bought his recent book, No Worries How to live a Stress Free Financial Life, can't wait to read it..I'm an Emergency Room Physician, but, Jared Dillian down to earth advice has changed my approach to life, money is not end all, ball..What really is what I can do to help humanity, even just one person at a time....Keep up the work Jarred Dillen....
Buying your book tonight Jared and looking forward to reading it!!
It's hard to argue with the value of helping others in some small or large way. I work in dental implants/prosthetics and see first-hand the importance of giving people their smiles back.
A good perspective - and something to ponder as we all scroll away our precious lives.
I agree with most of this, but the section about whether you are rich is the most out of touch thing I've read in a long while.
I am one of the public servants you discuss, a public defender with a wife who stays home to raise 2 kids. I make median income for the US, and I consider us rich. We live better than the most of the world, and I am thankful for that every day.
You are talking about owning multiple properties in luxury places and flying private as if those are normal, modest needs. You presumably have a net worth in the many millions. You are unthinkably and unfathomably rich compared to the rest of the world, undoubtedly in the 1%.
It's laudable that you are trying to give back, but hopefully you can recognize how incredibly privileged you are compared to the average person in US but especially globally.
I really enjoyed No Worries and I’m going to buy copies for my young adult kids. Succinct and valuable advice. I am a nurse practitioner and help people through my work every day, but I’ve been focusing on the ones I couldn’t help in the recent years. Thanks for the reminder to focus on those I do help every day!
I recently gave up my well-paying job as a copy editor in the financial newsletter industry and became a non-medical caregiver. Is taking care of elderly people more rewarding than editing investment newsletters? You bet. Does it pay the bills (even for someone who lives frugally)? Not even close. So I'm gonna have to find a second paid gig to make ends meet. The goal is to also still have time to do my own writing and (self-)publish some books. I feel God has given me a chance to do something else with my life. I can only hope that I'll make the best of it. Though if this doesn't work out within a few months (aka, before my savings run out), I'll have to get another full-time job that's more lucrative, something I'd like to avoid. We'll see what happens. Wish me luck.