How do I know if extreme wealth is actually making my life better or just more complicated?

Sor Juana spent her life in a convent partly because the world outside demanded she choose between intellectual freedom and social compliance. Wealth operates similarly—it promises liberation but often delivers a different kind of cage. The honest answer? Start by separating what money actually solves from what you thought it would solve. Does it buy time for what matters to you? Does it create space for genuine relationships, or does it become the primary filter through which people see you? I'd suggest tracking not your net worth, but your actual autonomy—how many hours weekly do you spend doing what you chose, versus managing the wealth itself? The ultra-rich often discover their greatest constraint isn't scarcity; it's the weight of options and the isolation that comes when people relate to your assets rather than your character. Wealth is a tool. The question isn't whether it's making your life better. It's whether you're using it deliberately, or whether it's using you.