Is How You Use Your Money Aligned With Your Values?
A hamster in a wheel.
Have you ever watched a hamster running in a wheel? All that running, all that effort, day after day after day … But the poor little critter never really gets anywhere, does he?
Many of us feel the same way about our money.
More specifically, we feel that way about the work we do to get that money. We spend forty hours every week on a wheel, running after a paycheck. And then, first thing Monday morning, we’re back on the wheel, and the whole thing starts over again.
Many folks just keep repeating this cycle, over and over, until they finally retire. They think that stepping off the wheel just isn’t an option because they have bills to pay, college expenses to save for, and a dream to be “financially set” before retiring from work.
How much is enough?
These are all persuasive arguments that keep people on the wheel. And the hope is that someday, you’ll be able to stop running and enjoy the fruits of all that hard work.
Unfortunately, more often than not, “someday” never comes. If your focus in your work and in your financial planning is just having enough money, you’ll never feel like you have enough. There’s always another dollar to chase, another way to economize so that you can save more.
But for what? Is having more and more money, in and of itself, something that you really value? Does having more make running on the wheel worth it?
You might think that this “never enough” mentality ends once a person retires. In fact, it just transitions into a new, related worry: “Am I going to run out of money?” Again, that “someday” gets pushed back in favor of more saving, more super-conservative living. You might not be working any more, but you’re still just chasing after money.
The wind in your sails.
At the end of the day, your money is not the shore we're sailing for. It’s not the sea you’re sailing on. It’s not even the boat you’re steering.
Your money is the sail. It’s the tool you use to get where you want to go.
And the wind in that sail is your values.