I’m assuming that most readers of MTC believe that money, whether they like it or not, is an important factor in their life. Of course, though, not everybody is of the same belief.

Recently I came across a few posts on various forums and some of my friends and colleagues commented to me about how they think money is unimportant; one forum post even described money as meaning “absolutely zilch”. He went on to describe how happiness is more important than money, and while I agree with that statement, I think that he was underestimating the importance of money.

A majority of people trade their time for money. By putting in sometimes long hours at work, they get out a (hopefully decent) paycheck. Some people make more money than other people depending on many things including how important their job is perceived to be, how difficult it is perceived to be, and what sort of education or training is required to do it. I use the words perceived because I think that much of this is quite trivial. The importance of one’s job isn’t something that is agreed upon by all people; basically it’s agreed upon by whatever pays the individual for his or her time.

For everybody, money means food on the table. Money means a place to live. Money means clothes to wear. If nothing else, money provides the necessities. I also believe that money can help people be happy. I do not believe that having money inherently is pleasing, nor do I believe that buying “stuff” is inherently pleasing. Granted I may get some amount of joy out of purchasing a new car or video game, but the happiness I get from spending time with friends and family far outweighs this joy. I’ll make the assumption that for most rational people, this is also true.

Think about a world in which you don’t have to trade your time for money. Say you invest wisely and are able to live off dividends and various income streams (business investments, real estate investments, etc) coming in; you never have to work another day in your life. What will this do for your overall level of happiness? Chances are that it will skyrocket - no longer do you have to be stressed at a job that you may not like. Even if you do like your job and you continue to work, you don’t have to rely on the money coming in from it. For me, freedom to do whatever I please and be able to afford it is the ultimate happiness. Having hours and hours each and every day to socialize with family and friends, the important things in my life, without having to worry about if I’ll have enough money to eat will be an amazing feeling.

None of this would be possible, realistically, without money. Money is simply a tool in which we are able to trade for things that we want,things that we need; and if you invest it wisely enough, money can buy your time in the future.

Like it or not, money plays a huge role in the lives of all of us. Money allows us to enjoy the standard of living that we currently enjoy. To deny its importance is foolish. What people should realize, instead, is that money isn’t the only important thing; only that it is a tool.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 9:19 pm and is filed under General Finance, People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.