Making money is often more fun than spending it, though I personally have never regretted money I've spent on friends, new experiences, saving time, travel, and causes I believe in.

Earn like it matters, spend like it means something

There's something almost counterintuitive about enjoying the process of earning money more than actually using it. It taps into a real tension most of us feel: the satisfaction of watching a number grow in your account versus the guilt of "frivolous" spending. But Altman's second half does the real work here. He's not saying money itself is the point—he's identifying the specific ways spending actually does feel good, the ones we rarely regret.

Notice the categories: friends, experiences, time, travel, beliefs. None of these are about owning things for their own sake. They're about what money enables rather than what it purchases. Buying the tenth shirt might feel hollow, but paying for dinner with someone you care about or taking a trip that shifts how you see the world? That's different. Even saving time—outsourcing something tedious so you get your evening back—feels like money working for you rather than you working for it.

The real insight is that we often get the formula backward. We think earning feels hollow because we haven't spent wisely yet. But maybe the reverse is true: earning feels good because we're not yet attached to how we'll use it. Once we actually start spending on the things that matter, the whole equation shifts.