Financial Philosophy | Squirrelers- Part 7

Flexibility and Embracing Change Helps the Bottom Line

Recently, the family spent a day together visiting downtown Chicago. One of the things we planned was a visit to the top of the John Hancock building, which rises 1,127 feet from the heart of the shopper’s paradise known as Michigan Avenue.

For those of you who haven’t been to Chicago, it’s a city with a remarkable concentration of skyscrapers. In fact, 4 of the 7 tallest buildings in the United States are in Chicago. The John Hancock building comes in at #4 in the city, but offers arguably the best views, with a clear look at Lake Michigan, and the city in all directions.

We got to the observation area on the 94^th floor, and then proceeded to take in the views. It was a real thrill for me, despite having seen this several times in my life, because I got to take my 7-year old for her first visit to a true skyscraper.

As I was excitedly showing her all the sights, such as the lake, and all the rooftops, and how you could squint and see Michigan across the lake – I then pointed to the tallest building in Chicago. “See that”, I exclaimed, “That’s the Sears Tower!”

“No it’s not”, my daughter calmly said.

“Sure it is, sweetheart”, I said. “It’s the tall black building over there”.

Then – to my surprise – she said, “It’s the Willis Tower. It used to be the Sears Tower but now it’s the Willis Tower.”

“Well, I like to call it the Sears Tower”, I said. “You can call it the Willis Tower if you want to.”

“Why do you want to call it the Sears Tower when that’s not its name anymore?” she then asked.

I had to stop and think about that. Why would anyone call this building by an old name? Well, the building was called the Sears Tower from its opening in 1974. From the time I was a kid, I had always known that the tallest building in the United States was the 1,451-foot tall Sears Tower. But on July 16, 2009, after 35 years of being known as the Sears Tower, this iconic building was officially renamed the Willis Tower.

It dawned on me that I was totally holding on to what was familiar, what fit into my comfortable view of things. Clearly, for many in my generation, that building is the Sears Tower; it’s what we know. But to a whole new generation of people, it’s the Willis Tower. For now, that is. It could be altogether something else in the future, who knows. But it’s no longer the Sears Tower.

As I think about this, I wonder just how often we hold on to old beliefs, clinging to what makes us comfortable, because we are resistant to change.

Could this apply to personal finance?

I think it could, in many situations.

For example:

Clinging to old views on real estate: “you won’t lose money on a home over time, homes are always a sound investment”
Holding on to investments too long: “I know this stock has dropped, but I don’t want to sell it until it comes back up in value”
Staying with the same job too long: “My employer will always take care of me”
Resistance to learning about new techniques: “I don’t want to pay any bills online – I only want the old-fashioned way of writing checks”
Refusing to explore diverse investment opportunities: “I’ll just stick to what I already know”

Things change, and we have to adapt to the times. It’s important to keep our core values and beliefs, but also accept that it’s important to keep an open mind and learn at all times. These positive, open traits can lead to a more positive orientation toward wealth preservation and creation.

What do you think? In the world of personal finance, do you know anyone who sticks to long-time beliefs, but could benefit from fresh thinking and an open mind?

Can You Ever Get a Truly Free Lunch?

By Squirrelers 9 Comments

Last week, I left the office during the lunch hour, and went to grab a quick bite to eat. I work in Chicago, so there is frequently a lot of “hustle and bustle” in the middle of the day. People in suits, business casual folks (like me), tourists – people from all walks of life are out enjoying the city. Late Spring, Summer, and Early Fall in Chicago are beautiful, and I think it’s that reality plus the harsh reality about the brutal weather the rest of the year, that brings people outside.

As I walked down the street, I saw up ahead a group people in short-sleeved, collared shirts – like they were representing a company – stopping people as they walked and motioning them over to the right. This isn’t uncommon, as people in major cities and tourist areas are always trying to sell something to people passing by. In this case, however, I can see that instead of the usual quick brush off, people were stopping to pay attention.

As I got closer, I sensed a vibe of excitement from the people milling about, so I stopped to see what was going on. As it turns out, the people dressed in those short-sleeved collared shirts were pointing people to a stand that they set up, where you could get a free sandwich. I quickly figured out they were promoting a new TV show, which is to be aired nationally on a major cable network. As a part of their promotional campaign, they were stopping folks on the street and offering free sandwiches while mentioning the name of the show and when it will debut.

I was hungry, so I thought to myself: why not?

As I took the sandwich, a guy also handed me what looked like a mini DVD which promoted the show. This DVD, which is what I assumed it was, was very tightly wrapped.

Anyway, I didn’t care about show, I was just happy about the FREE LUNCH!

It was a good sandwich: BBQ pulled pork, very tasty (probably not healthy, but it was good), and filling. And FREE!

As I walked away, I took a look at the mini DVD, and got curious. So, remembering that, I saved it for later that evening, and opened it up. As I mentioned before, it was tightly wrapped, so it actually took a couple of minutes to get the thing open. Then, after looking at the DVD, I got curious about the show. I didn’t try to play the DVD, as I set it aside. What I did do, however, was go online and spend about 10 minutes looking at information on the show.

Then it hit me: I probably spent 15 or 20 minutes of my time when you add up opening and looking at the DVD, and going online out of curiosity. This was for the sandwich that would probably sell for $5 tops.

The company’s strategy worked: give me the sandwich, make me aware of the show, make me try to look up information on the show. The next would be for me to tune in, and at this point, I’m curious.

They won. No regrets at all from me, but they got what they wanted.

That sandwich wasn’t free. As my Dad always liked to tell me when I was a kid: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Thanks for that advice, Dad!

The Frugal Athlete

By Squirrelers 2 Comments

It takes a highly positive, can-do attitude to be a great athlete. You have to have a vision to be the best you can be. Set high goals, work hard, practice, and demonstrate great determination. Make it all second nature, a part of your persona. Then, after a lot of effort, commitment, and dogged perseverance, you make yourself into the athlete who wins the big trophy.

The frugality trophy, that is.

What? Did you think I was talking about sports or fitness?

Actually, I was talking about what it takes to become a great frugal athlete!

The term “frugal athlete” could mean many things. One definition could be an athlete that happens to be frugal. You know – someone who wants to get in shape without spending a lot of money. That would be a great topic, perhaps one for another article, but I’m talking about something different here. When I talk about a frugal athlete, I’m talking about someone who is a highly skilled, competitive athlete in the sport of frugality!

Let’s face it: there are many people that thrive on living within their means, and maximizing the income minus expense gap. To do that, you have to:

a) protect and maximize your income earning potential; and

b) maintain a disciplined approach to keeping expenses low

As financial athlete, you take the two together. We can call that cross-training:) But in terms of the sport of frugality, we will focus on the latter: managing expenses.

So, how do you become a frugal athlete? Well, let’s just say I’m continually working on the “manual” as I train, day by day! But here is how I view it:

1) Visualize success. Just as athletes work toward the goal of winning a championship, making the game winning shot, or getting the clutch game winning hit, the frugal athlete can work toward his or her individual, overall financial goal. Within that goal is the sub-goal of reducing expenses to the lowest reasonable level at which a comfortable lifestyle can be lived. As with many things, what is “comfortable” is relative to each of our individual tastes. That said, it’s visualizing where you could be in terms of spending – living a waste-free life that’s comfortable, where you don’t throw away money but do get value for every hard-earned dollar you spend.

2) Break apart the long-term goal into tangible, intermediate goals. Just as a pitcher in baseball learns his pitching mechanics, fastball, curveball, pickoff move, fielding skills, etc – you can break up your frugality goals into different tasks. These might include: deciphering wants vs. needs, knowing where to shop for groceries, learning how to obtain the best mortgage, learning the best sources for online coupons, etc.

3) Train effectively. Just as an athlete works with knowledgeable trainers and uses the latest techniques, the frugal athlete should do the same. To me, this entails spending time learning from the most current and knowledgeable sources – such as books, blogs, and those who have achieved frugal success themselves.

4) Practice Regularly and Routinely. Natural talent alone will not get it done here; you must work hard at making frugality a part of your daily routine. This could mean substitution: cutting out that $3 daily latte for a $1 cup of coffee instead. Or, it could mean cutting out that cup of coffee for water, thereby kicking that caffeine habit. Perhaps it means checking online for coupons before grocery shopping at a store with good prices, as opposed to going to a pricier store that you’re used to visiting. No matter how you do it, you have to practice. The more you practice, the better chance you have to succeed.

5) Persevere. Just as an athlete must press onward in the face of obstacles, so must the frugal athlete. A basketball player, for example, may get up at 5:30am in the off-season to run sprints and keep in tip top shape. If he gets tired, loses focus, and skips a few days – then he slips back a bit in his conditioning. He needs to be mentally tough. With the frugal athlete, it means keeping your focus and discipline when you have weak moments. For example, you may want to give in to the temptation of buying a very nice pair of shoes at the mall, but when you realize it will blow your budget, you pass on the opportunity and head down to a less expensive store. Emotion can be a big obstacle to staying disciplined.

Ultimately, the athlete who takes these steps will be in a great position to succeed and meet that big goal, be it winning a tennis tournament or achieving a personal best in a marathon. For the frugal athlete, taking these steps could lead to achieving the goal of bringing down expenses as a part of maximizing the income minus expense gap. The prize in this case could ultimately be financial freedom.

Is this a bit esoteric? Maybe it is. But we can learn a lot about reaching goals and becoming our best from areas outside of personal finance. Applying these principles to our money management could lead to our own victories that bring us a higher quality of life.

What do you think? Do you think that we can learn from other disciplines to become better at managing our money and reaching our overall goals?

This post was included in Festival of Frugality #232 at Provident Planning

Can we Achieve Financial Greatness?

By Squirrelers 5 Comments

There are plenty of people who have achieved greatness in different walks of life. Many of these people are in the public eye, and have achieved notoriety through their achievements in certain high profile vocations. Politics, sports, entertainment – these have created some of the most popular examples of success in our modern society.

What makes some of these people so successful? Sure, some have inherent, incredible talent – but many of these people needed a chance to develop their skills, and often times it’s a matter of opportunity and practice that got them to where they are.

Two books – Malcom Gladwell’s “Outliers”, and “Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin, take fascinating looks at what gets someone to be successful to the point of being exceptionally successful in their specific areas of focus. In “Outliers”, it becomes clear that it’s not just the natural inherent talent that certain people have which gets them successful, but it’s a matter of opportunity as well. Once they get the opportunity, they may get even more opportunities, exposure, etc – which leads them to success. For example, Canadian hockey players who are born soon after the January 1 age cut off tend to be disproportionately part of top teams even later in their teen years. These kids were more physically advanced at early ages than their counterparts born later in the year, and were selected for the top teams, received the best training, most ice time, etc – until they became the best. The results fit the selection.

In “Talent is Overrated”, the author looks beyond natural gifts, and focuses on practice as a means to greatness. It is the hard work and deliberate, repetitive practice that someone takes on which can ultimately drive the person to high levels of success.

Taking these two interesting books together, it can be surmised that greatness might not be just a matter of natural talent, but rather of opportunity plus hard work. Old fashioned, but in this day and age of instant celebrity status, perhaps it is these standby approaches to success that still hold true.

Taking this further, can this be applied to personal finance? In other words, is it possible for any of us to achieve “financial greatness?”

I say yes!

Sure, it will be harder for some of us to achieve certain levels of strictly financially-measured levels of success than others. Some already have more than others, are born into wealthy families, have lives free from encumbrances, are healthier than others, etc. That said, I think success is a relative term, and it is different for each of us. What financial greatness means across the board, however, is reaching levels of success that are truly beyond what we originally thought possible.

How do we get there? Well, I’m not there yet, so I can’t give you a foolproof path to riches. Even those that are there can’t give us a guaranteed path, because otherwise we would all be on the way there. But I’m willing to say that learning from the examples in the books I mentioned, it’s possible for each of us to reach extraordinary levels of success. For some of us, it could be a matter of opportunity – or putting ourselves in position to succeed. For most of us, I suspect that hard work and a regimented, disciplined approach to money management can get us there. If this has worked with athletes, musicians, actors, public speakers – as well as people studying math, history, etc – then I believe it could work with personal finance.

Here is my suggested approach, utilizing 6 steps:

Have a philosophy: Visualize what you want your life to be like, and where money fits into it. For me, money is part of what I call the HWR framework – interrelated with health and relationships as a component of overall quality of life. Since I would like a high quality of life, with strong relationships, strong physical health, low stress with lots of enjoyment, and plenty of generosity, I think having money to fulfill those dreams can be helpful. It’s not just about accumulating the highest dollar total for me; it’s about total quality of life. Of course, if it’s about the bottom line for you, so be it. This part is highly individual.

Set goals: Ok, so I just got done saying its not just about accumulating the highest dollar total for me. True. But, in order to facilitate the bigger overarching goals I have, specific money amounts do come into play. This is where goal setting comes into play. I believe that as in many other activities, it helps to set a goal that is aspirational yet conceivably achievable. Figure out how much you need to make your dreams come true, and go for it. Write it down, record it – make yourself aware of it on a regular basis, while not obsessing. The goals may be different for each of us – sky high for some, while many of us will have more modest goals, relatively speaking. Again, the specific goals are highly individual. Putting this into practice, one can determine goals at the 1, 3, 5, 10, 20 year markers.

Learn: Get educated, and make it a continual practice. There is always something new to learn every day. Keeping a mindset that is attuned to constant learning can only help. Reading books, blogs, talking to people – these are all great ways to learn. For me, blogging on personal finance is a way to increase my knowledge of this space. Learning about financial concepts, different asset classes, how debt impacts your finances, different products in the marketplace, and ways to save money on purchases are all good uses of time. Often times, it’s what you don’t know that you need to know that can help the most. That’s a continual journey for all of us. Let’s put ourselves in a position to succeed.

Record Expenses: Keep track of your expenses, and analyze where you money is being spent. It’s a topic that is blogged about frequently, and I am a proponent of doing this, at least on a period basis. If never done before, it can be an eye opening experience. Done right, it can tell you where your money is going, and help you control where future cash outlay is going, in order to meet your goals.

Spend in a Disciplined Way: This, I believe, is a critical aspect of influencing a successful outcome vs. the alternative. There are plenty of stories about regular people of average means who were able to grow a comfortable next egg just by being disciplined in their money spending decisions. This helps maintain or even grow the important income minus expense gap.

Manage your Career: This can take different forms, but it essentially means protect and ideally grow your potential to bring in positive cash flow. How can such cash flow come in? Well, if it is passive cash flow that requires very little effort, that’s great. For most of us, however, we need to get to the point of having such investments that can do that for us. This is where your career comes into play. It is the other side of the equation – it provides the money that you can manage through steps I mention above. While many of us tend to spend a lot of time thinking of ways to save money, it’s often the income stream that makes the biggest difference. Actively managing your career so that you can put yourself in a position to maximize your earnings potential can only help. Over deliver on the job, seek promotions, build your resume, learn in everything you do, and keep a strong network going. Combine those actions with long term goals and keeping your head in the game, and you’ll be on the way to financial success.

I plan to follow these 6 steps, with overall discipline and practice, day in day out. I don’t plan to be obsessed with this. Rather, I am working toward making this a part of my routine, like brushing teeth 🙂

This is my game plan, and we’ll see what happens. My strictly financial goals are probably more modest than others, but as I said, it’s all individual.

What do you think? Is it possible for the average Joe or Jane to achieve “financial greatness” using such disciplined strategies?

Consider the Cost of Time when Trying to be Frugal

By Squirrelers Leave a Comment

I have had a few conversations lately with people I know, as well as several in the media, regarding extreme frugality. Some examples that I see are inspiring, many are entertaining, and some just way out there and over the top. Some, as I have alluded to, cross the line by taking advantage of others or causing one to lose self-respect. So, there is a spectrum when it comes to extreme frugality, ranging from very good to very bad.

That said, stripping away the inspiration, entertainment, and morality issues related to some of these tactics, a key question remains: Is it worth the time? Is it worth going to extreme measures to save money – even pennies – when it costs time to do so?

This is where it appears many people are not fully thinking through the value of their time. I have certainly fallen into that at times, and I’m guessing we all have at one time or another. Its important to keep in mind the value of our efforts in terms of the precious time we spend on such time saving efforts.

To illustrate, lets take the example of a person with the following hypothetical employment situation:

Wages: $50,000 annual salary

Work Day: Standard 8-hour day.

Days Worked: 250 days per year (factoring in 5-day workweek, plus holidays/vacations)

For this person, his total imputed hourly rate is $25 ($50,000 / (8*250)). Thus, before taxes and other deductions, this person sells time to an employer at a rate of $25 for every hour on the job.

Lets say that this person’s employer came back to him and said that they wanted him to work overtime on a special project. This project would not lead to a better performance review, nor would it provide a leg up for promotion. Additionally, it wouldn’t provide experience that could benefit your career, nor would it impact his job security. All this said, the employer would pay him $5 if he spent an extra hour working on this project each week.

Would this employee, who normally gets paid $25 per hour, jump for joy at the possibility of making $5 more if he works that additional hour on this non-value added special project? I suspect that this employee might evaluate this, and think: “Why should I get paid $20 less – or 20% of my regular pay – to do this? It’s not worth my time!“

Its something to think about as we spend time devising ways to save money.

Is it worth $5 to spend an hour round trip, to shop at a cheaper grocery store?

Is it worth $5 to spend an hour driving to buy that printer that’s cheaper at the store which is a 20 mile drive from here?

Is it worth $5 to use that coupon to buy a new pillow at the store in the next town over, when I could spend just buy it at the store right around the corner?

Is it worth $5 to hunt for bargains online for an hour, when I could just go to the site I know and buy my product in a matter of minutes at the price offered?

When you frame these “savings” in terms of opportunity cost such as in these examples, it provides another perspective on frugality: Sometimes it not worth our time to focus excessively on extreme frugality.

Of course, I’m presenting this as a purely dollars and cents argument here. Sometimes people feel great pride in finding a bargain, and take on frugality as hobby – the thrill of the chase. In that way, if it works for someone, so be it:) Its also understandable that if frugality becomes a habit – a way of life – then this mindset can provide benefits in other decision scenarios.

I’m all for sensible frugality. It’s a great practice! That said, on an individual case-by-case basis, its worth thinking about the value of time when trying to save money. Every little bit helps, but if it costs us all of our time, it makes sense to re-evaluate that investment of time. Because while money can always be made, new time can’t be made!

The New Rich – Frugal is Cool

By Squirrelers 1 Comment

The good life…..a beautiful home in a tony neighborhood. Private schools. A high end luxury car or high performance car – maybe both. Cool vacations. Frequent nights out for expensive dinners or entertainment. Shopping for nice clothes, the newest gadgets. All the best for today, and tomorrow is another day.

All of this is what many people have seemingly aspired to – or have gotten caught up in. Whether it’s the desire for nice things just for the sake of having them, or it’s the drive to keep up with the Joneses and maintain an image, many Americans have been working for this type of life.

Many people still keep this approach. I’m willing to guess that even if these tendencies have been muted lately in a lot of people, they are still there and are just dormant for now but will re-emerge. However, for others, the recent economic conditions in this country– namely the manifestation in job losses, home value declines, and the topsy-turvy stock market – have caused a shift in perspectives when it comes to money and its role in our happiness. It may be a smaller segment of the population, but for some, being frugal is now cool.

I can relate, because I’m one of those, to a certain extent. Now, I have always had some focus on saving and investing, but have aspired to some of those nicer things to a certain degree. I still want certain things, and do set long-term goals that I am working toward when it comes to those things. Goals are great, and its fun and exhilarating to work toward them. But higher on my list is living within my means and saving for retirement, medical issues, unexpected financial emergencies, and overall financial peace of mind.

Why? Because these economic times have left the impression on myself and many others that ups and downs in the economy WILL happen, and to large extent, most of us WILL be impact to some degree. Some of us be impacted a little bit, some of us will be impacted tremendously. These ups and downs have caused people to take another look at what is truly necessary in day to day life, and how limited financial resources should be allocated.

Is it worth living in an expensive house with big mortgage payments and tax liability, that don’t go down even if the value of the house goes down? Is the house truly an asset as many of us have been raised to think, or can it be a huge liability as many going through foreclosure have come to find out? Is it worth driving an expensive car with monthly payments? Or is it worth spending far less, perhaps paying cash up front, and saving the extra money?

Ultimately, what many people have found out is that the income streams that most people use to feed their families are not guaranteed. If a job is lost, there might not be a replacement job to be found in short order…it may take a long time, and the replacement job may not pay a salary comparable to what was made before. That’s if a replacement can even be found in the same industry or line of work. With limited or uncertain income, what should we focus on first?

Many people are realizing that its best to focus on necessary daily expenses while preparing for future cash flow needs that could result from loss of job or the medical or unexpected financial emergencies I mentioned before. The stress of meeting needs today has jolted people into thinking about the rest of their lives. Is it worth it to have all of the finest things today, while worrying about tomorrow some other time? Or, is it better to live with the necessities today, and forego the finer things for additional savings instead?

What’s the tradeoff? It’s the mental dissonance of living with less than you technically could purchase now, knowing you could buy more – in exchange for the peace of mind that you have by knowing that you are taking pressure off yourself in future years. In its simplest form, it could be seen as delayed gratification. But looking at it further, its risk management because today you have income, but you really don’t know what could happen in the future. You might not have income, or you might have it but have massive cash outflow. Smartly, many people are in a way “self-insuring” themselves by living on less today so that they preserve the possibility of at least living on something in the future. Given that positive cash flow appears less certain now, in the minds of many, the value of that peace of mind that comes with saving has increased. Yes, the value of savings not just in monetary terms but in peace of mind has increased. In the overall scheme of things, savings are more important now than before to many people.

Pulling these thoughts together, what it comes down to is that the fear of financial problems has changed the value equation for what we invest our money in. Instead of buying all the luxuries in life with our current income, many of us are valuing peace of mind and financial FREEDOM more. And it redefines what it means to be “rich” – not just having money to buy the best things or luxuries, but enough money to reduce pressure on our minds and bodies. It’s cool to have freedom, and live responsibly and be out of financial misery. It’s not as cool to talk about how you bought a big house 3 years ago with big payments, one which has declined in value substantially since then and your hard-earned equity has been wiped out.

Ah, the good life……a good enough home in a safe neighborhood with quality public schools. A practical, fuel-efficient, safe car. Inexpensive family getaways. Inexpensive, meaningful family activities for entertainment. Shopping for good, reasonably priced clothes on sale, and the technology we truly need. At least we have the basics for today, and the basics for tomorrow. And if we’re smart, maybe tomorrow will offer those finer things. That peace of mind makes us truly rich.

This article was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance – Blogthority.com Relaunch Edition! Make More Money Blogging edition

Let’s Get Philosophical: What Role Does Money Play in Our Lives?

By Squirrelers 2 Comments

Squir - hwr

When it comes to our finances, each of us has our own individual approach. Some of us are savers, some are spenders, and others are somewhere in between. This continuum is a paradigm that our popular culture uses to frame differences in the way people approach money.

I believe that the way we approach our finances goes beyond that particular behavioral characterstic. In reality, I think our approach to finances can be viewed in more of a multi-dimensional setting, where money has a different role in each our lives. For some, money means survival, plain and simple. For others, money is something that is a part of their lives but rarely on their mind, regarless of the role it actually plays. For yet others, money is an obsession, as accumulation signifies achievment. Some people view money as analogous to insurance, or a defensive resource to protect against future setbacks. Some people want money to provide a good home….or to contribute to the ability to have certain hobbies….or to provide something to bequeath to future generations….and so on. Sometimes the same person may view money differently in different situations. The bottom line is that we each have our own relationship with money, and our own conscious and subconscious needs for money, rooted in our value systems and cumulative life experiences.

This is an area of personal finance that has interested me for a while. Why do people behave the way they do with respect to their money? What’s driving this behavior?

Of course, a starting point for anybody is to consider how you personally view things. Taking an introspective approach, I have spent time figuring out my own take on money, and the role it plays in my life. What I have determined is that it fits into the framework of HWR – Health, Wealth, and Relationships. These are 3 key parts of life, linked together as a part of a system.

Think about it: HWR – Health, Wealth, Relationships. They’re all connected, and to the extent one is strengthened, the others will be strengthened as well. If one is weakened, the others will be weakened as well.

For example, lets take 2 people: A and B. They are twins. A has good health, average wealth, and good relationships. B has good health, average wealth, and poor relationships. Over time, all other things being equal, I think that A will end up having a better overall quality of life. My reasoning is that A’s good relationships will be good for his happiness and will lower his stress levels compared to B, which will give A a chance to be healhier. As A is healthier, he will have a better chance to be wealthier, as he will be able to in better position to earn money while having lower healthcare expenses. And while he is healthier, he in turn will be in a better position to cultivate, keep, and grow relationships, leading to better chances to be wealthy, etc. Circular, perhaps…yet very symbiotic.

So to me, money is a part of the Wealth aspect of HWR. Beyond basic survival, money gives you the opportunity to live a healthier life, with the time and means to have more positive relationships. One thing I want to make clear is that I am not saying that money buys friends. Well, it could, but those aren’t true friends. What I am saying is that the more money you have, on balance, the less stressed you are about it, and the more time you have to do other things, such as cultivate true, genuine relationships that aren’t based on money. Money is but a component in the system.

There is no right or wrong framework, each of us has our own specific one, whether we have consciously thought about it or not. It would be interesting to get the perspectives of a range of folks to see the different views of money in all of our lives.

This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance #249 at Amateur Asset Allocator