Rima Grace

And it's hard because on the one hand, you could realize, oh, my God, I do not have enough for what I want to achieve.

That might mean I have to get a new job.

I have to do whatever.

I have to switch apartments.

But the other side is realizing you have more than enough.

And you have to sit with the fact that you are, in many cases, hating your life at your job and have more than enough.

And I'm not suggesting that everyone quit their job, but it's about making different decisions.

Might you take a longer vacation and actually use all your PTO?

Might you not aim to be a people manager because you actually don't need the money and that would cause you more stress?

So it's the two sides, which I think that is even more powerful in some ways.

Because most of us think we don't have enough, whether we do or not.

So for Miriam, enough stopped being about hitting some magic income and became about how much risk she was willing to live with in exchange for autonomy.

I was curious what the research says about this question, how much is enough.

And it turns out experts have tried to pin a number to it, at least as it relates to happiness.

For years, they thought that your emotional well-being kind of leveled off once your basic needs were covered.

At one point, like 15 years ago, that number was $75,000.

People have kept arguing over the exact figure, but newer research suggests there might not actually be a ceiling.

There are some exceptions, but on average, the research shows that the more money people have, the happier they tend to be, which feels kind of sobering that there isn't a clear finish line.

But it also makes sense.

Like, how many of us have thought a raise would solve our financial problems just to have the rent or insurance premiums or grocery prices go up unexpectedly?