The prompt this week is on finding true and lasting love versus USD$200,000 cold hard cash.
Quick Answer
In my country, USD$200,000 cannot last me long enough considering today's standard of living and ridiculous inflation. So naturally, the tendency will be towards picking finding true and lasting love.
Deeper Considerations
Can we have love without sufficient financial stability?
Will money be able to give us what love can give?
Basically there is no way we can swing to either extremities which comes in the form of 1) Loveless Scrooge and 2) Pauper Lover
The Loveless Scrooge
When you become a loveless scrooge, you will slowly find yourself distancing from others. While the money you have allows you to visit places to seek out companionship in the form of social escorts or prostitutes/gigolo or even just sugar babies, the so called love/companionship that comes about from all these are temporal/contractual where there is some form of monetary binding. Do these people truly care for you or care for their own livelihood based on the money you are able to give them?
The Pauper Lover
Now we go to the other extreme, the pauper lover. Can love overcome basic needs? A shelter to stay, food to eat and to meet daily needs. We can have all the love we want but when we are unable to even take care of Maslow's lowest hierarchy of needs, my personal take is, even the strongest love can be shaky because survival is at stake. How to talk about love when you become homeless or have many days without proper meal. Such a state wrecks the stability of the relationship.
The Balanced
The key to the answer for me will be that love and money tie hand in hand. True and lasting love breaks when basic needs are not met. Love that comes from money is not lasting. So the only way is to find the balance.
To go all out to find that true lasting love is considered reckless for me. When living everyday worrying what happens next due to the inability to meet basic needs will cause disagreement, suspicion and frustration.
To be a top earner with high salary, will it end up having my laptop as my lover. Suspicion will also set in and one would often question themselves, "This guy or girl trying to get close to me, is it because of me or because of my money?"
We might not find the perfect partner of our dreams or even be the top earners but one thing I have learned over the years of being married is that there needs to be some fundamental maintenance for both love and finances.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs depicted this well. Lowest level is physiological needs which consist of the needs required for survival such as food, water, shelter etc. When survivability is being taken cared of then comes safety needs on things like a job and health. Then it will lead to emotional needs in the form of love.
Money will help ensure survivability, need not be in the posh form where one can indulge in delicacies, stay in big houses or drive some luxurious cars but just basic food, water and shelter. Then with that being taken cared of, that is where love can be built upon. To me, there is no such thing as true and lasting love. Love needs to be built upon and maintained. So if there is love, it gives an additional push for one to better the lives of both parties, so that they can enjoy each other's presence. And that is where true and lasting love starts to germinate.
Closing
Do not forgo love for money or vice versa. Remember to upkeep on basic needs, find a partner whom share the same vision. Work together to better the lives of one another by giving each other support. Many power couples did not start off well to do, but their maintained love for one another help gave them an extra push to better the lives of one another, thereby growing financial stability together. There is no "Or", there is only "And".
Thank for reading my take on Love or Money. To married couples, couples and single whom are looking for life partner, every love and relationship needs both parties to work on it, your love's basic needs will be your charter if you go into a relationship. Keep that portion fulfilled, then love between the couple can help you reach new grounds that you've never imagined possible.
Have a great weekend!