“The hardest financial skill is getting the goalpost to stop moving.”

Why it was said

Morgan Housel writes this in 'Never Enough', the third chapter of The Psychology of Money. The chapter opens with the story of the novelists Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller at a billionaire's party, where Heller says he has something their host never will: the knowledge that he has enough.

What it actually means

Every raise, bonus or good year resets what feels normal, and the target quietly moves up again. Housel's point is that this, not a lack of knowledge, is among the most dangerous habits in money. If expectations rise as fast as results, you never feel ahead, and you become willing to risk what you have and need in pursuit of what you do not need. 'Enough' is not a fixed number; it is a decision to stop letting comparison set the target. The line calls it a skill because it takes practice: noticing the goalpost move, and choosing to leave it where it is.

How to use it

1. 1Before your next raise arrives, write down the income and savings that would count as enough for you, with a date.
2. 2When your pay rises, raise your savings by the same amount before your spending has a chance to adjust.
3. 3When Can gets a 20,000 lira monthly raise at his job in Ankara, he keeps living on the old amount for six months and sends the difference straight to savings.