Envy - Is That What's Driving Us?

I've talked a lot about trying to understand what drives us. So I want to share one particular individual, billionaire investor Charlie Munger, who recently brought up again the perspective that the world is driven by envy, rather than greed (Article link from CNBC)

Because we are in a consumption-based economy, without being conscious of it, we may let material things define and drive us. To make things worst, most of us don't have the personal finance education to manage our finances, therefore may let our spending and debt consume us. To put it harshly, that may lead to us also working for our mortgage, credit card and/or loan companies...using our money, making them more rich!

We forget that the goal of accumulating wealth is less about things than it is about independence, freedom, and personal development. For example, would you want to be working hard to buy a new trendy car that may only be in style for a couple of years, or putting your savings into your personal equity (Weekly Blog Link) that will continue to be worth more and will provide you with so much more satisfaction, opportunity and total value?

When we have an unprepared mindset that only focuses on money rather than personal finance, we are then letting envy and materialism drive us. With social media being such a powerful influence force over our lives, we need to be more empowered to think differently and be purposefully over our finances.