Y’all know I love to read, but I must confess. I am a sucker for a good financial book. I know, I know, I am a lame accountant that actually enjoys learning new ways to save and manage my money. That is why when the kind folks over at FinCon offered up a free book called The One-Page Financial Plan * by Carl Richards to me, I nearly screamed for joy.
I even took the book on vacation with me.
Again, I am totally a lameo, but y’all this book is awesome. Seriously. I am a firm believer in knowledge and that we must always be learning. That means that every year, I make it a point to read at least one book on personal finance so that I can learn new strategies or maybe find errors in my own money management.
One of the most fundamental components of this book is the question “why is money important to you”. In fact, Carl who is a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) does with all of his clients is ask them this question before helping them develop a financial plan. He compares this question to a doctor asking you to describe what is wrong or what hurts. It is a crucial question for understanding what our financial plans are supposed to consist of.
After all, money is supposed to be a tool, a way to help you achieve your goals. So why do we not ask ourselves this question or often?
Why is money important to you?
Now, it may be tempting to just throw up an answer like “freedom” or “peace of mind”, but those answers will not help you figure out a financial plan for your future. They are too vague. We need something more concrete, in depth.
Questions to Ask to Get You Thinking
With the “why is money important to you” question lurking in the background of your mind, answer these questions to help you determine the answer to “why is money important to you”.
-Why do I invest so much of my money and time on X?
-Why do I spend so little on Y when I claim it is so important?
-Why do I save so much (or as little) as I do? What am I hoping to achieve?
“The calendar and the checkbook never lie.”
The truth is most of us want more time with our loved ones or more time to travel and do the things that we truly love. The problem is that we spend money in a way that is actually preventing us from enjoying our life.
We claim that our family is most important, but we fail to save any money to protect them in an emergency. We claim that our education is most important to us, but we fail to put any money aside to actually go to school. We claim that becoming debt-free will allow us more freedom, but then we fail to do anything to help us become debt-free.
This is the point of asking the question, “why is money important to you” so you can sit down and dig deep. We make many claims on why money is important to us but fail to do anything about it. The truth is, if it was that important we would actually do something about it.
Therefore, this is your challenge. Yes, I am going to give you challenge and yes, I expect you do actually do it. 😉 I want you to dig deep, real deep, and ask yourself why money is important to you and then I want you figure out your financial goals based around that one answer.
Do not get hung up on “well this is only important to me right now in my life but this will change in a few years”. Life happens and creates changes. There will be changes to answer to why money is important to you and that is why is it important for you to revisit the question often and to make sure that you are still using money that is in line with your goals.
While on vacation, my hubs and I discussed our answers to why money is important to us. Thankfully, we were not too far off course, but we definitely could and should be doing better. I had to go outside my comfort zone, take some money out of my savings Roth IRA account, and invest it in an investing Roth IRA account to grow my money a little quicker.
We had to call our mortgage company to discuss having PMI (private mortgage insurance) removed from our mortgage. This led to a whole other discussion, but in the end, we have now made huge strides to keeping our money working for us.
For more of my favorite financial books, you can check out all of my favorite resources here.
So, why is money important to you?
Linked Up To: The Thrifty Couple, Thrifty Thursday
STANDARD DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Affiliate links will have an asterisk (*) next to them. {Read my full disclosure policy here.}
When I was a junior in high school, my mom went back to college and got her degree. She had married in the 60s and, as my parents only had enough money to send one person to college, they had decided to send my dad, thinking his income was more important. For them, it worked out – my dad had a steady paycheck and my parents are still happily married. I don’t think I need to tell you that it didn’t work out so well for many people of their generation. But there was always this sadness about my mom, this regret that she’d never gotten her degree. She did the occasional course via correspondence as time and money would allow; but with five children there was never much of either to go around. My junior year, she accompanied me to a college fair. There was a representative there from the college she had started to attend, all those years ago. So she asked: “I have some credits from about 30 years ago. I don’t suppose they’re good for anything now are they?” “Of course they are,” the recruiter replied. After sending in her transcripts from the various correspondence courses she’d done, she discovered she was only a semester away from graduating; and so the entire family moved for a summer so that she could finish her degree. I’ve never seen her happier than she was when she walked in to our rented apartment after sitting her last final, knowing that degree was hers.
I’m thinking of her a lot lately as I’m embarking – slowly, with a sense that it may still all fall apart on me – on my own journey back to college. I always wanted to go back for my Master degree, but things never seemed to gel. Now, everything seems to be falling into place. Oh, how I hope this works!
So that’s my answer to your question. Money is important to me because it is (hopefully – If this all comes together) giving me the opportunity now, in my 30s, to chase a dream I had let slip away. Money is important to me because, after so many years of telling myself it wasn’t really important, anyway, I am finally in a position where I can follow my passion and go back to school. Things might be tight for the next couple of years – but the money is there; and after all, what is money but a tool? I’m a little bit scared; but I remember the fearless girl I was at 19 when I left home to move half-way around the world; I remember standing in the airport terminal, shaking, and my mother saying, “You don’t have to go, it’s okay if you don’t go,” and me replying, “I’m scared. That’s all. But if we let our fears hold us back, we’ll never do anything.” And I look at the blessings that decision has brought me; and I know – this, too, will bring me blessings. I’m scared. But I won’t let that hold me back.
Oh that is exciting news Becca! Congratulations on the start of your new adventure! 🙂 And seriously, that is so amazing that your mom was able to finish school and that her credits were still good. I love hearing stories like that. My mama went back to school too at 60 years and I can say that I never saw her more proud of herself. I think it is such a blessing when children get to witness their parents achieve their dreams. What an amazing example you get to show your kiddos! 🙂
Money is important to be because it gives more choices and options. With that comes freedom to live your life the way you want!
The One-Page Financial Plan looks like a quality book! I’ll have to take a closer look later.
Why is money important to me? We have plans to send our children to the Christian Day School that is connected to our church. It is not cheap, but giving them a Christian education is important to us! We have some savings built up, but it will only last for the first 2-3 years…for one kiddo.
Once kiddos are in school I will need to start making money to help cover the cost! I am on the fence about whether or not we are sending our 4 year old to preschool next year or if we are going to save the money (and give us one more year together at home!!) and wait until kindergarten. So I’m off to read your preschool homeschooling post. 🙂
I hate that private schools are so gosh darn expensive! I love your answer! I’m a firm believer that education is the one of the greatest blessings you can give your children. 🙂
Thank you for a challenge. I really have no idea why it is important. I think we need it to live in today’s society. It does allow me to live a life I like, but I am not sure it is important. I will for sure add this to my journal list.