This financial blog is filled with readers having the dream of early retirement. We want to pursue our hobbies, relax, and stop hearing “Why are you late today?” at work. Some of us even have spreadsheets that map out our plan and schedule of when this can happen. On the worksheet are statistics such as our current net worth, projected return on capital and how much we would have 5, 10, 15, …, 30 years from now. If we are on track for early retirement, it would bring a big smile on our faces every time we look at the spreadsheet. It gives us hope; it gives us more motivation to work towards our goal.

We dream about reaching our 1 million dollars (or 2, 3, even 5 million) goal and retiring early one day. However, would we really retire if we are 45 years old and we reach our million dollar dream? There are so many people who have lots of money who are still grinding the daily work. Ever since I was young, I always wonder why they did it. Back then, I thought I just weren’t as ambitious as they were and left it at that. Now, I’m wondering if there is some crucial information that I am missing. Maybe it’s just because I’m not in their shoes and don’t know how it’s like to be a young millionaire.

What if our dream is having the most romantic wedding? For years, we thought about the perfect spouse, falling in love, and having the perfect wedding with everyone congratulating us. However, when we actually do get married, real life issues kick in and we wonder if we should spend the $25,000 on a wedding or a house down payment (or maybe we can’t even decide whether we want the wedding or the car). Most of us can certainly afford to pay for the wedding, but would we fulfill our dream and actually pay for it?

Dreams therefore might not have meant to be fulfilled. It may just be a way for us to create hope, a necessary ingredient to be happy.

Maybe you should dream high, since deciding to fulfill it might be a tougher situation than pursuing it!