Quora Answer: Do We Have to Love or Respect Money to be Financially Healthy?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Do we have to love or respect money to be financially healthy?”

Money is a means to facilitate financial transactions.  By itself, it is nothing.  It is “wealth” insofar that we ascribe a value to it.  When that consumer confidence is lost, it ceases to have value.  It is pieces of paper, plastic or cloth.

Money is not something to be loved, or respected.  In the same way we do not love or respect furniture.  Rather, money should be understood for what it represents, and used accordingly.  What should be respected is the process of acquiring wealth, and the knowledge of finance that allows us to do so.  What should be loved is the good we can do with wealth, to advance society as a whole, or change someone’s life for the better.

Financial health is built on the correct values: prudence, patience and knowledge.  It is not built on the mere acquisition of things, since things lose their value in certain circumstances.  A man may lose some money, but if he has skills, values, and the right network, there will always be opportunities to get that back.