Getting Rich vs Having Peace of Mind

You know, Boh Tong recommended JJ Claypot Rice on Bedok Reservoir Road.  I have no idea where is it.  Armed with an address and google, we found it and it was a place I used to frequent during the NE Monsoon to fly gliders.  Right beside the carpark, was a condominium coming up.  My wife reminds me that she said she asked me to look at a unit with 5 bedrooms, the so-called dual key which is two units side-by-side for 3 generation living.  I was not keen as there were several suicides at Bedok Reservoir.  Today, the price has gone up.  Had we bought it, we would have made money.  A few hundred Ks at least. 

Thinking about it this morning, I had several missed opportunities when it come to real estate investment.  If and only if I had been daring and take risk, we would be comfortable today.  But no, I declined the opportunity for capital gains worrying about potential loss and carrying a mortgage.  So today, I am just the average Joe living the average life.  I do regret sometimes but this morning I feel compelled to pen down my thoughts.  I have a peaceful life.  Do I have to be fabulously rich?  I enjoys a regular life of bringing up my boys, have dinners at home and a vacations every two to three years.

The Chinese has a saying - When you are born, you brought nothing, when you dies, you cannot bring anything.  It is a reminder not to be too focus on material wealth.  I wish we do not need money to live.  Unfortunately, we all do.  Plus I loved working.  So I have a peaceful of mind earning and maintaining a comfortable and not luxurious life.  I have a rich life with my family.  We have dinner together almost every evening. 

Although I do wished I listened to my wife and bought one or two properties a few years ago once in a while, I do not dwell on missing out on the Singapore property boom.  As many mentioned before, a dying person never wished they spent more time at work but more time with his or her loved ones. 

So I have simple frugal life and spend as much time with my family.  This brought me peace of mind as I will not have regrets when my time has come.