What does money mean to you?

Money is a strange thing. Its influence ranges from making people do anything for it to preventing people from doing anything without it. Since first appearing in shekel form 5,000 years ago, coinage has spread worldwide and has played a large part in shaping cultures and societies.  But at the end of the day, money is simply a convenient means of paying for goods and services. Money is just a currency — it is the relationships people have with money that gives it power. Money is not so strange; it’s the people that are.

In our industry, we see the full spectrum of attitudes towards money which can be formed as much by environment as personality. Like many Depression-era grandparents, some people hold onto theirs as tightly as possible even when they have an excess of it whereas others can’t stop spending it even when they don’t have it.  Some people are disgusted by the concept of money and what it stands for while others will do most anything for more of it.

Personally, I equate money with freedom (but apparently, I have not yet attained this freedom since I am writing this post from my work desk on Friday afternoon). At some point in the future, I hope to have enough to allow my loved ones and me not to be restricted in life’s other pursuits. Until then, I try to make my money work as hard for me as I work for it.

Assessing risk tolerance is both ability to take risk and willingness to do so. Thus, the first question one should ask before investing is “What does money mean to you?”.