Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life

Enough was a fun read! It was like reading a book from the future that I wrote in my old age. Most of the chapters were based on points of view that I already have. That's fun enough. Though I did pick up a few insights.

For one, John Bogle points out that our current financial system promises unbeatable financial rewards to its managers, luring away top intelligent minds from actual productive jobs in science, engineering, and such endeavors that generate real wealth and prosperity for society as a whole. In other words, the lure of money corrupts the young and destroys everyone's future prosperity.

For another, the wealth that the financial bubble produced was a false perception of wealth. There was no real added value in the financial markets. The increasing wealth was a money game using service fees and other charges to generate the appearance of growth and prosperity for all. In reality most people lost their hard-earned wealth to the game.

Bogle wrote this book in 2006, preceding our current financial depression. This adds some weight to his basic premise, that many people don't know when they have enough. They are greedy. And this greed is creating an unsustainable bubble that will hurt us all. Most of the wealth in America is now squandered in investments that shouldn't be made. The only winners are the market makers that collect fees regardless of the outcomes. If most people knew when enough was enough, our financial bubble would be much harder to inflate.

I highly agree with John Bogle's basic premise. I came up with the same philosophy on my own, several years ago. There is a point where individuals (and companies) have enough: enough market share, enough savings, enough resources, enough house, enough comfort, etc.

Bogle states on page. 22, "...our entire society...reflect[s] some of the absurdities and inequities that we've come to accept and take for granted."

"In our financial system, we focus our expectations on the returns that the financial markets may deliver, ignoring the exorbitant costs extracted by our financial system, the excessive taxes engendered by record levels of speculative trading, the inflation borne of a government that spends (our) money beyond its means, grossly devastating these returns. We engage in the folly of short-term speculation and eschew the wisdom of long-term investing. We ignore the real diamonds of simplicity, seeking instead the illusory rhinestones of complexity."

"In business, we place too much emphasis on what can be counted and not nearly enough on trusting and being trusted. ...We have...enough fool's gold of marketing and salesmanship and not enough of the real gold of trusteeship and stewardship. And we think more like mangers, whose task is to do things right, than as leaders, whose task is to do the right thing."

Yup. I couldn't agree more. So how do we know when we have enough? This is not clearly addressed in Bogle's book, and may be it biggest flaw. Bogle is wealthy, extremely wealthy by most people's standards. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it isn't really worth counting at all!

Bogle recalls a quote in Einstein's office which read, "Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted." (This quote is not documented anywhere reliable)

Counting money is one of those items "not worth counting". It is always a relative value with no intrinsic worth. So how to we measure enough? Bogle gives a few ideas, but concludes that we can't. Can we measure "enough happiness", or "enough peace"? Not really.

I agree, for the most part. However, there is one simple way to measure "enough", and it hinges on one key virtue, brotherly kindness. Once our basic needs are met, food, shelter, basic safety and fellowship, all else is relative to our neighbor's needs, to the least among us. In short, I have enough when I can turn my efforts and attentions to helping others have enough.

I have enough food when I'm not starving and I have enough excess to help my neighbor make enough food to help his neighbor, etc., etc. Once everyone has stopped starving, we can all have more than enough, safely, stably and joyfully (no guilt).

I have a good enough house when it meets my needs and doesn't impede my neighbor from having one too. Why? Because I care about my neighbor just as much as I care about myself. This is not about absolute equality. It's about modesty, compassion, and balance. If I over-leverage myself in debt for a house, then it further extends the price of houses out of the reach of others at or below my ability pay. And, it fuels a real estate bubble on false wealth.

When do I have enough education? When I reach a point that I can go it alone (graduate) and someone else could benefit more in my seat or from my tutelage.

Amazingly, knowing when you have enough (showing restraint) and knowing how to help others get enough (generosity), will eventually bring everyone more than enough! This is the first law of prosperity (according to me). Bogle almost reaches this conclusion, but then doesn't quite see it.

Enough is a great book. John Bogle comes across as a wise, aged veteran of the financial industry. The book starts from that point of view, but evolves into a more complete moral message. It's also a short read and worth the time.

A brief synopsis of Bogle's ideas may be read or listened to in this NPR netcast.