I am going to have all the money i’d like. I am the queen or king of my universe.

The clearest sign anyone has of being in charge is what they can turn down. The job that pays well and would cost a year. The client everybody warned you about. Saying no requires a floor to stand on, and the floor is usually financial.

Sovereignty over your own life is less about what you can buy than about what you can decline — and the amount needed to decline things is often far smaller, and far nearer, than the amount needed to buy them.