This week I’m talking about materialism and how it might be wrecking your retirement. Materialism places utmost importance on money, the things money can buy, and outward signs of financial success. 

Today, I’m exploring the irrationality of materialism. 

Deep down, we all know we can’t take our possessions with us when we die. But many of us, myself included, behave as if we can. 

My favorite example of the irrationality of materialism is King Tut, and the other ancient Egyptian pharaohs. They believed that you could take all your stuff with you into the afterlife. When King Tuts tomb was discovered in the early 20th century, they found all of his crap, still there, much of it rotted away. 

King Tut was buried with 36 jars of wine and eight baskets of fruit. Hopefully, he was able to at least eat a few snacks and enjoy some of that wine on his journey into the afterlife. It sounds ridiculous and gives a whole new meaning to aged fine wine, but how different is it really in how we behave today? 

I think the right approach to accumulating wealth and possessions is to settle on a reasonable definition of what is enough for you. Enough to satisfy your basic needs in retirement, to cover health care costs, keep up with inflation, provide some cushion during market downturns, and allow you to have fun and pursue hobbies and interests that are meaningful to you. 

Once you have enough for this, it’s important to stop and ask yourself why you continue to accumulate more. 

I know this can be a challenge because it’s a struggle for me to. I am constantly woo’d into the pursuit of materialism and more, we’re bombarded with the parade of celebrity excess and more more more, and they all seem to be having so much damn fun, that it’s hard to ignore. 

I’ve been reflecting a lot on my own materialistic habits over the last 6 months or so, and only after speaking with a couple of people I respect in this area and reading a book on this very topic, have I seen the light on accumulating more in an attempt to find pleasure, contentment, and happiness. If I’m being honest, a big motivation to write these tips is to further convince myself on the fruitless pursuit of more for its own sake. 

I still have a long way to go. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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