As business owners, we all have at least one characteristic in common. We like making money. And how could you not? Especially when you have taken the initiative to go into business for yourself, you are arguably the hardest-working type of individual there is out there. Accumulating wealth is an obvious desire of those who become their own bosses.
Now, we can’t all be millionaires, right? But it sure would be nice if that was the case, wouldn’t it? Well, according to Moneyville blogger, Alison Griffiths, perhaps being a millionaire isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be. Perhaps, there is some truth to the saying that money can’t buy you happiness.
As Griffiths points out in her blog yesterday, a recent study by the Deloitte Center for Financial Services forecasts that “that the number of millionaires in Canada will increase from 1.7 million today to more than 2.4 million by 2020, and that as a group they will control $6.77 trillion in assets.”
However, a separate RBC survey last fall found that “less than half (49 per cent) of Canada’s millionaires feel they have grown happier as they have accumulated more wealth.” Is it possible that the more money you have, the less happier you become? Was The Notorious B.I.G. correct when he declared “Mo Money Mo Problems”?
As Griffiths reveals, the RBC report does, in fact, suggest that the greater one’s wealth, the greater the difficulties experienced. For example, managing investments, planning for retirement and succession planning all become major issues to worry about. Not to mention, money grubbing friends and relatives coming out of the woodwork!
Perhaps, this is a far-fetched assumption. Griffiths herself admits that life has got to be a lot more difficult when one is forced to live pay cheque to pay cheque. She notes that about 60 per cent of Canadians report that this is the way they live. Not being in debt, she continues, has got to present a circumstance for greater happiness.
At the end of the day, it’s always important to set financial goals for yourself and decide upon the ways in which you plan on achieving them. Especially as a business owner, you always want to ensure that your business is meeting the needs of its customers in order to secure its longevity. We’re sure that having too much money is likely a problem you wouldn’t mind having!
