This topic came up in the Wow-Her.com forum, after someone stumbled upon what was presumeably a famous hokkien song about the same topic.

Some people said that they would go on trips, and some said they would hold huge parties, and yet more people said that they would put their money into investments; make that million dollars grow and multiply the joy!

I thought that last idea was very prudent use of money: let it work for you, and create a continuous stream of income to enjoy for a long time!

Yet what is it I REALLY want from that million dollars?

I recall a conversation I had with Eng Hai, and felt moved to share. Here was what I said in the forum:

I just recalled something I learnt from my mentor (who is incidentally a reknown guru in the investment circle) that I feel very moved to share. This was an actual conversation I had with my mentor.

He asked that question once: "What would you do with a million dollars today?"
And I said "I'll invest it and get more money back", clearly wanting to impress his investment persona.

And he asked "What will you do with 'more money'?"
"I'll use part of it to buy whatever I want, and re-invest the other part."

"And what is it that you want?" He asked finally.

After a weak answer, several 'ums' and 'ahs' later, he spoke again with a laugh "You clearly don't know what you want!"

I learnt that day that the point to his question to me wasn't really the 1 million dollars, it was what I wanted for myself in an absence of constraints. I continue to teach this ideas to my own students (I do some coaching to my own business team).

People say money is not an end in itself, but a means to an end: it was meant to be a vehicle to help us do and achieve things - from little things like getting food to fill our tummy, to great things like building churches and temples. What we want, money can get for us.

Yet sometimes we forget that, and end up wanting money on its own. That's where it gets unhealthy. We don't really know whyAnd the funny thing is this: if you don't know what to do with money, money will not find its way to you.

So, my friends, what will you do with one million dollars today? :)

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