Morgan Housel’s The Art of Spending Money offers an excellent reframing of saving: think of it not as delayed gratification, but as the purchase of future independence and resilience against uncertainty. Because those things have value even before the money is eventually spent later. Knowing you have that armor is protective against the generalized uncertainty of a modern first-world existence.
Human psychology lets me assume/pretend, broadly, that the world tomorrow will be mostly like the world today. But there are enough regular things to be anxious about that cannot be avoided, including a whole bunch about the health of my family and the future for my children, that are inherent, unavoidable, and challenging—if not impossible—to mitigate.
But at least that big emergency fund and those long-term investments that I basically ignore on a daily basis provide that warming blanket. If winter is coming, then it makes sense to prepare.
I don’t think I have an above-average tolerance for physical or psychological pain, but outlier performance in many domains comes down to the ability to tolerate discomfort. It makes sense to live in a way that minimizes unnecessary discomfort, stress, and uncertainty in as many domains as you can, in order to save that tolerance for where it drives the outcomes you want.
If this new age of AI should teach us anything, it’s that uncertainty remains the cost of admission for an active, full life. There is no way to get stronger financial returns without taking on the risk of investment, such as in the stock market. You can’t opt out of the uncertainty of any specific career, job, or path of study. There is no way to wait on the sidelines for a winner to appear and step onto that particular train.
Accept the uncertainty and live life. There is no alternative worth considering.