My recent posts about relative wealth and the fact that $1 million just isn’t what it used to be, reminded me of the age-old question: What would you do with $1 million?

Many people’s first response to this question revolves around how they would spend the money. That is insightful, but not really the point of the exercise. Creating a person-to-person loan portfolio on Lending Club might also come to mind, but deciding how you would invest the money is also outside the scope of the discussion. This point was raised in a scene from the movie Office Space, which is a personal favorite of mine. The main character, Peter Gibbons, is discussing the possibilities with his friends. One friend tells how he would spend the money, another how he would invest it. It is only Peter who understands the point of the question and famously answers that he would “do nothing.”

While you don’t need a million dollars to do nothing, as pointed out in the scene by Peter’s friend, his answer gets to the root of what is actually being asked: What would you do if you didn’t have to work? This is different from what you would do if you were exceedingly wealthy, in which case you might be inspired to overspend and waste some of your money. So the question that I’m posing is “How would you spend your time if you maintained your current salary without having to actually go to work?”

Thinking about that question will probably help you to focus on the things most important to you. Identifying those things may inspire you to spend as much of your free time doing those activities as possible. Focusing your actual finances to maximize that time can also be achieved. The daily grind often clouds our thinking and keeps money in the context of all of our thoughts. As such, it’s nice to take a moment to contemplate those things which are more important than money.

Being a millionaire was once synonymous with being rich. It seems that inflation, rising costs of living, and longer life expectancy are moving the bar even higher.

As I mentioned in my post about wealth being relative, where you live has a lot to do with the magic number for being “rich.” To reach that level, the consensus estimate seems to be that $5 Million is the new benchmark. Accumulating such a high net worth seems to be the average level required for people to maintain an affluent lifestyle.

Don’t get me wrong, $1 Million is still a lot of money and more than most of us will ever accumulate in our lifetimes. It shouldn’t discourage those who won’t reach that level from saving and planning for their retirement. If you’re happy with your current lifestyle, then the number to continue that lifestyle in retirement may be a much smaller number than $1 Million. The point here is that the amount of money that you’ll need for any lifestyle is rising. I could just as easily say that $10,000 just isn’t what it used to be, but there’s a perception of wealth that accompanies $1 Million, so it makes for a more interesting discussion.

One of the main reasons why retirement costs continue to rise is the fact that life expectancy is also on the rise. In financial planning, we usually want to assume the worst case scenario and ensure that we’re covered. As Jim Cramer said in his latest book Stay Mad for Life, the worst case for retirement planning is actually living a long time, since that would require the largest nest egg.

Knowing that we’ll need more in retirement to maintain our lifestyles should offer motivation for saving as much as possible. Being mired in credit card debt can make saving for retirement seem like a luxury that we simply cannot afford. Consolidating debt with a person-to-person loan from Lending Club may not only make paying off your debt easier, but it may also allow you to divert extra savings into your retirement accounts, which can always benefit from such contributions.

As winter slowly fades into spring, the sports world starts picking up momentum. In a matter of weeks, the NBA and NHL will be in the playoffs, baseball will see its opening pitch thrown, and the NFL will hold its annual draft. But what really gets people revved up this time of year, as its name suggests, is March Madness.

The annual college basketball tournament becomes a national obsession for three weeks every spring as 65 teams vie for the NCAA Division I basketball crown. People everywhere get excited about it, whether they are rooting for their alma mater, cheering for an underdog, or hoping the team they picked in the office pool will go all the way. In a single-elimination tournament with an enormous field, there is always an opportunity to see upsets and surprises as well as ample opportunity for fan participation. The players aren’t the only ones who look forward to this time of year.

Everyone wants to be a part of the tournament action, whether by joining a simple office pool or sitting courtside at the big game. And for those fans who want a truly memorable experience, Lending Club can help. With a $5,000 personal loan, sports fans can see March Madness like they’ve never seen it before.

Here is a budget for that $5,000 that shows how you can maximize the NCAA tournament experience.

$10.00: Office pool
Office pools aren’t free, at least the ones that are worth playing. Their simplicity belies an incredible challenge: picking winners in 64 games might look easy enough, but hardly anyone is very good at it. Most companies offer office pools as a way to improve morale and to curb and control extracurricular side pots. But for most people, having one bracket is not enough (nor does it offer good enough odds). Being in a pool with friends, family, and/or co-workers adds excitement and tangible intrigue to the tournament. A $10.00 buy-in for a pool of 15 people could end up being a $150 windfall if your teams come up roses. For the other 14 people, it will be $10.00 down the drain.

$1,104: Tickets to the first round in Tampa, Fl (center court)
Lots of good action happens in the first four days of the tourney, and going to one of the eight first-round venues could provide a chance to see an upset for the ages. One of the first-round hosts will be Tampa, and with that $5,000 personal loan from Lending Club, you could be rubbing elbows with players’ families by getting some decent tickets in the lower section. For a little over a thousand dollars, the sweet seats would be good for the whole weekend—four games in the opening round and two games in the round of 32. You could be witnessing history and witnessing Jim Nantz in person.

$1,104: Tickets to the first round for your best friend
Experiencing the tournament would be fantastic, but being able to do it with your best buddy would be even better. That way, you could also have someone to high five, someone to protect you when you cross the line berating the refs, and, considering you bought his tickets, someone to score you a hot dog. He’ll owe you one.

$108.24: Slingbox
Assuming that all the great action will happen in Tampa would be short-sighted indeed. There will be drama and intrigue nationwide when the tourney gets underway. Thankfully, that $5,000 personal loan from Lending Club will make the purchase of a Slingbox awfully easy. The device broadcasts home television channels to your laptop or mobile phone, so while you’re waiting through a TV timeout you can catch the end of the thriller in Seattle. And with a price tag of just over 100 bucks, you would still have extra dough to pay the neighbor’s kid to teach you how it works.

$1,186: Airfare to Tampa, FL and hotel for two
While the idea of a cross-country road trip with your buddy smacks of college-aged fun and shenanigans, you’d prefer to fly the friendly skies and avoid carsickness. With that Lending Club loan and a deal from Orbitz, you can travel to Tampa in style with a flight from Delta and a stay at the Ramada Inn. You and your buddy can yuk it up with your complimentary colas all the way to sunny Florida, and once you’re there, you can hit up the pool and what’s left of the continental breakfast bar.

$15.00: Flowers for the wife
After a sports weekend away, you’ll owe her one. A nice bouquet of seasonal hydrangeas ought to do the trick. Also, you’ll need to be on her good side because you will have to watch the next weekend of the tournament at home; after all, somebody’s got to work to pay the bills.

$422: Tickets to the Final Four in San Antonio, TX
What a deal on tickets! For a little more than 400 bucks, you’ll get to see the coronation of a new college basketball champion at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Granted, these seats will be nothing compared to the primo spots in Tampa. Instead of courtside, you’ll be roofside, stuffed away in a high corner of the massive stadium. But at least you’ll be inside the venue.

$44.99: Zhumell binoculars
Being so high up, binoculars will definitely come in handy. A pair of Zhumell specs will keep the cost down and keep you in the action. This nice pair features up to ten-times zoom and comes in a nice, compact design. Now the only thing separating you from those guys sitting courtside will be collateral player sweat.

$1,006: Airfare to San Antonio, TX and hotel for two
Flowers would never be enough for a jilted wife who longs to travel with her hubby. She missed out on Tampa, so you better believe she’ll be coming with you to San Antonio. Your Lending Club loan will help cover airfare and hotels for the two of you, but she’s not coming for the basketball. She’ll be shopping with your credit card on the Riverwalk, which works out great since you are already familiar with Lending Club.

Net worth is a superior measure of wealth compared to using something such as income. Earning a lot of money doesn’t necessarily make you wealthy. The difference between what you earn and what you spend, and how that difference accumulates, is much more indicative of your financial well being.

Net worth is basically just the sum of your assets minus your liabilities. Would you like to see how your net worth stacks up compared to other people your age and at your income level? There’s a tool that will let you do just that here.

What do comparative results of net worth really tell you? In isolation, not much. Taken with other information, however, they can provide some useful insight. The reason your comparative results don’t mean much on their own is that being above (or below) average doesn’t actually give a sense of whether or not your net worth is “”enough.” Being much different from the average, in either direction, may give you the proverbial “warm fuzzy” or put you into a state of panic.

Other factors to consider when comparing yourself to the average include the type of lifestyle you live and your geographical location. Someone with a below average net worth who lives modestly or in an affordable market may be in a better position than someone with an above average net worth who lives a more luxurious lifestyle or in a more expensive market.

Lending Club can help you build your net worth in many ways. You can build your assets by investing in a peer-to-peer loan portfolio and get an average return of 12%. You can also use Lending Club to lower your liabilities by consolidating high interest debt with a fixed rate installment loan.

One other interesting thing to consider is that the comparison tool might put you in different positions based on your age versus your income. A young person with a high salary, for example, would probably have a net worth that’s above average for his or her age, but below average for his or her income. If you find such a discrepancy, I would put more weight behind your relative net worth for your age. If only to see where you currently stand or better yet to take decisive action based on the results, comparing your net worth to the average is a useful starting point and an exercise that is quick and easy.

You would think that being wealthy would be something that could be quantified. Perhaps some threshold of assets, net worth, or positive cash flow would lead to an assumption of wealth. The reality is that, while those quantifiers are important, your relative wealth to those around you may be even more important.

As an example, consider someone who has paid off a $1.3 Million home and has a net worth of $3.5 Million. You might expect this person to be retired and living the good life. A man in this situation was profiled by The New York Times in an article on so-called Working Class Millionaires. He regularly works 70 hours a week and doesn’t consider himself rich. The reason is tied to his location, Silicon Valley, where most of his neighbors are at least as wealthy as he is.

I have a hard time feeling bad for a Silicon Valley millionaire. If I were in this situation, I would probably cash out and move to a more affordable location. There are places all throughout this country that are reasonably affordable and offer whatever you like, be it ocean, mountain, forest, or plain. Such a change might not be easy, but neither is working yourself to death to keep up with the Joneses, particularly if the Joneses are über-rich.

On the other end of the spectrum are the results of happiness surveys where people in poor nations often report being happier than people in the US. The reason is the same: People in poor countries tend to have neighbors who are also poor, so on a relative scale they are no worse off.

Regardless of your relative wealth, being bogged down by debt will not help your situation. Luckily, credit card debt is a problem that can be remedied with a peer-to-peer loan from Lending Club. Paying off your debt more quickly will allow your relative wealth to rise more quickly as well.

The alternative to living where you are wealthy relative to your neighbors is to define wealth in your own terms. Caring less about what people think is one of those changes in mindset that can make all the difference.