I can answer to this question in two ways: the first one is when I know it does not matter what my answer is and I can list out any random things to do with that given amount of money, like, come up with several ideas within seconds. Because I know both the question and the answer are just for fun in this case. On the other hand, to seriously consider what to do with a huge and unimaginable (to me) amount of money is the thing that I haven’t spent time with yet. Until I read the book “What money can’t buy?” (I am still reading it). It appears to me that I do not need to wait until I have a fortune to think about how to spend it but I can totally start right away, with the money I have since it actually matters to a single penny.

Recently, I have gained a profound insight of the difference between the desire and the need. I used to believe that when I need something then naturally I would desire to have it and vice versa, when I desire something, I must have needed it at a certain level. However, things turned out a little bit different and vaguer at the same time, especially when a person has more money than the amount required for his basic needs. From my point of view, we are living in a society that people who do not have enough will power would easily be swayed by those theories which incentivize them to purchase goods or items that they do not need but are told to believe so. To put it more simply, people easily get mistaken between what the society said they need vs what they really need. For example, a large number of people in developing countries believed that they need a better life in which they have much more money to spend on luxurious things and purchase whatever they like, while the fact that most of them don’t need to be that rich to have a good life. When people have more money, they usually “realize” that there are so many things that they did not need in the past but cannot live without in the present, without realizing that it is just their own illusion, that they simply desire more but not need more.

I suppose it is hard in daily life to separate those two terms since they are familiar to each other in many ways. However, it is essential to be aware of what your need is and what your desire is so that you will not be tempted to spend money excessively and fall into the trap of greedy.

V.

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