Money Doesn't Buy Happiness. It Buys Choices.

One of the most common sayings about money is that it cannot buy happiness.  I used to agree with that 100% when I was younger, but as I aged, I think there is a lot of truth in that.  Money alone cannot guarantee meaningful relationships, good health or a fulfilling life.  But after years of building my dividend portfolio, I have also come to realise something else.  Money may not buy happiness, but it buys choices, and sometimes, those choices quietly lead to a happier life.

When I first started working as a private tutor, my income depended entirely on the number of lessons I taught.  No lessons meant no income.  It was as simple as that.  Back then, I packed my schedule as much as possible.  Every available slot became another tuition lesson.  As someone who is self-employed, every lesson represented income for that month.  Naturally, I became very protective of my schedule.

Then came the inevitable cancellations.  Sometimes a student fell sick.  Sometimes there was a school event.  Sometimes another subject had an important examination and they needed extra revision time.  These things happen and I cannot say no to these cancellations.  Every cancelled lesson meant a little less income.  Every cancelled lesson made me worry about my monthly earnings.  Although I tried my best to remain understanding, I often found myself feeling disappointed.

Occasionally, those emotions even created unnecessary tension between my students and me.  It was not because I was angry at them.  It was because, deep down, I was anxious about money.  When my income depends almost entirely on the hours I work, every cancelled hour feels expensive.  That constant pressure quietly followed me for years.

Then something unexpected happened.

It did not happen overnight.  Not because of a salary increase, nor because I suddenly found a better-paying job.  But because my dividend portfolio slowly grew.  Year after year, dividend after dividend, eventually, it reached a point where I realised something had changed.

For the first time in my life, I was not relying entirely on a single source of income anymore.  I still needed to work.  But I was no longer standing on one leg.  I had another pillar quietly supporting me in the background.  That changed far more than my finances.  It changed my mindset.

Today, I still fill my teaching schedule whenever needed, but I am no longer obsessed with filling every single slot.  Students still cancel lessons occasionally.  That has not changed either.  The difference is how I respond.  When a lesson gets cancelled today, my first thought is no longer about the money I have lost.  Instead, I often smile and think that I have an unexpected afternoon to rest, and I get to watch another episode of drama that I like.

The cancellation has not changed.  The circumstances have not changed.  Only my perspective has, and I realised that perspective changed because my financial situation changed.  My dividend portfolio did not eliminate uncertainty.  It reduced my dependence on every single dollar I earned.  It gave me breathing space, confidence, flexibility, and most importantly, it gave me choices.

Ironically, I also think it made me a better tutor.  When students ask to postpone a lesson because they are unwell or overwhelmed by school, I find myself becoming much more understanding than I used to be.  I no longer see every cancellation as a financial loss.  Instead, I see a student who simply needs a little flexibility.  That shift has made my interactions with students more relaxed and positive.

I suspect it has also made me healthier.  Less stress, less frustration, less anxiety over things that are often beyond anyone's control.  Looking back, I do not think my dividend portfolio simply increased my net worth.  It quietly improved my mental well-being.

People often ask why I invest in dividend-paying stocks.  Many assume the answer is passive income, financial independence and early retirement.  Those are certainly part of the story, but they are not the whole story.  The greatest return my portfolio has given me was not the dividend deposited into my bank account every quarter (although that has definitely been liberating and given me a sense of empowerment and satisfaction), instead it was the freedom to respond differently to life's uncertainties.  Money did not remove my problems, but it reduced the pressure attached to them.  That is something I never truly appreciated until I experienced it myself.

So, perhaps it is true to say that money cannot buy happiness.  But money can buy choices.  And sometimes, this quietly become the foundation upon which happiness grows.  Today, when a student sends me a message asking to postpone a lesson, I simply reply no problem.  Years ago, that message might have ruined my mood for the rest of the day.  Today, it often feels like an unexpected gift.  Nothing changed.  Only my psychology changed.  And perhaps that has been the greatest dividend my portfolio has ever paid me.  Barista FIRE, here I come...!

Comic Version: https://www.instagram.com/p/DdsIZKAEn5I/?stkn=MWcyaGVjanRydDJyZA==