[John Wesley]

At the risk of being called a troll I must challenge the claim that your goal of making a million dollars is not motivated by self interest. Self interest is the root of all motivation, and money is not the only accepted form of payment. I completely believe that you are not materialistic and that the financial reward is not your primary motivation, but don't you also derive a great benefit from the respect and admiration of your readers? Doesn't it motivate you to be considered intelligent? To be regarded as someone who has helped many people? These things are often more valuable than financial gain, and they are motivated by self interest just the same.

I'm not trying to criticize you for this, self interest is what motivates all people, especially myself. I just think it is important to recognize the true source of motivation, even for people doing benevolent things, is always self interest.

I think I will take your advice about carrying more money in my wallet and not caring about trivial sums. However, I think many people will misinterpret the second point to mean you should spend small sums of money at every whim. Small leaks sink ships, as Ben Franklin said. One person above said that many rich people are very cheap and I tend to agree.

Thank you for yet another thought provoking post.