Rima Grace

Unless you're ultra-wealthy, there are always going to be so many factors out of your control.

Which makes it hard to think about enough even being possible.

When you hear this question, how much is enough, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

What are your fears?

What are you so afraid of?

Wendy De La Rosa is an assistant professor at Wharton.

I wanted her take because she studies how money feels, and she thinks that's what this question is really about.

So much of what we spend the last decade studying is how people feel about their money, which can be fundamentally different from their objective financial situation.

Like, our feelings are really stemming from our perceived difference between our expectations and reality.

I should...

be at a better place than where I am, or I should be earning more than what I am earning now, or I shouldn't have this much debt.

We are social creatures by nature, and so we are engaging in social comparisons all the time.

I find myself feeling like that depending on the social circles that I'm around.

Like if I'm around people who are making a lot of money, I suddenly feel like I don't have enough.

And if I'm around another group of friends, I feel like I'm okay.

It is interesting how subjective it can feel based off of...

your environment, and not even your environment, but the assumptions you're making about your environment.

Yeah, so much of what we see are essentially the asset side of the balance sheet.

We see whether or not someone's a homeowner.

We don't see their mortgage.