When asked how much is enough, John D. Rockefeller is said to have replied, “just a little bit more.” This might be an urban legend, but the sentiment is something most people understand. Indeed, most people respond to survey questions about how much income or wealth they need with similar answers: usually slightly more income than they currently receive and slightly more wealth than they currently own. The definition of slightly more varies a bit, but the underlying emotion is the same: I am not quite there. Personal finance books – both textbooks and books targeting popular audiences – rarely address the issue of a stopping point. The message tends to be the same across these books, and it usually focuses in some way on how more accumulation is better. The message in scholarly writing on income and wealth, including some of my own research and perhaps even this book, is remarkably similar. More accumulation of income or wealth is usually better, no matter the starting point. The message across these sources is something akin to Sophie Tucker's message when she is reported to have said “I’ve been rich, and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better.” There is no question that having income and wealth offers important advantages, including occupational and educational advantages, reduced fear of financial crises, personal and family security, comfort, and the knowledge that one's heirs will be taken care of. As I addressed in Chapter 1, the benefits of wealth ownership in particular are tremendous, and the fact that a large percentage of the U.S. population has virtually no wealth can be troubling.