What Do You Want Your Money to Build?
Growth gets more meaningful when you know what you want it to make possible.
These past few weeks we've been exploring questions like: What could your money become? Where is your current path taking you? What happens when you understand what you've already built?
But there's another question. And this one matters just as much.
What do you want all of it to make possible?
You're probably doing what you can—paying off debt if you have it, saving, investing, trying to keep spending in check, maybe even paying extra towards a mortgage. But sometimes the reason we're doing all of this gets fuzzy.
Do you know what you're saving for?
Not literally, "We want to build up our emergency fund," or "We want to build a nest egg for the future." I mean... What kind of life do you want to live? And what kind of life do you want when you've built enough that work is optional?
Growth needs a direction. It’s not the destination itself, but what that money makes possible.
Think on this phrase coined by Brian Potnoy CFA: funded contentment.
What would funded contentment look like for you?
Is it the freedom to leave work earlier? More travel? Giving more generously? The flexibility to move—or even live in more than one place? Helping your children? Taking a sabbatical? Changing careers? Working less? Feeling secure enough to stop chasing more?
For us, a couple of those things have been plans to help our children more and taking these recent road trips around different parts of the country... seeing it all with fresh eyes.
Sometimes we get so distracted—and burdened—by everyday life that we stop asking what we actually want. Sometimes those fun, exciting conversations about our dreams that we had with our partner earlier in the relationship haven't happened for a long time.
And so... saving for retirement becomes the goal. 🥱
But that's not really the goal.
A better question is: How do we want to live... abundantly? What are those dreams we used to talk about? What new dreams do we have? What would funded contentment look like for us?
I'm pretty sure it isn't endless accumulation (or spending it all now). And it isn't trying to maximize every dollar. It's having enough resources to support a life that feels satisfying, secure, meaningful, and chosen.
And a note to couples: you may not have identical dreams. That's okay. The goal isn't perfect agreement. It's knowing what matters to each of you and having enough shared understanding that you know what you're building toward together.
So remember this: growing money is useful. But knowing what you want it to do is what gives it meaning.
What do you want your money to build? What do you want it to make possible?
And... if the numbers eventually support it, would you actually give yourself permission to choose that life?
Next week I want to show you one of the tools I use to help see the possibilities.
P.S. One of the financial blind spots couples can fall into is a lack of shared direction. If you’re realizing you and your partner haven’t talked much about what you’re building together, my 7 Financial Blind Spots Worth Noticing may help you spot what’s getting in the way of that shared vision.
