Great questions inspired by Your Money or Your Life. Answer them thoughtfully and honestly and they will give you some great insight into what money means to you.
Who or what has influenced your major financial decisions?
If you aren’t doing what you want in life, whose dreams are you fulfilling?
When you think about your financial past, do you see any patterns?
What financial advice from the past sticks in your mind today?
What messages about money did you get as a child? How are these reflected in your actions?
What does money mean to you? Power? Security? Sex Appeal?
Have any life crises altered your thinking about money? How and Why?
Have you ever felt poor or wealthy? How would you define poor or wealthy?
How much time do you spend with popular media such as television, newspapers, magazines? How do these contribute to your view of financial situations? Your wants and needs?
Who is your financial role model? Is there someone that you compare yourself to when it comes to money?
What makes you feel “real” – that you really matter?
Powerful stuff that really helps put money in perspective. The comparison to other people point is particularly interesting.
Back in the day, I found that I was trying to max out my 401(k) and Roth IRA just because that was the cool thing to do amongst young professionals who were big savers. Then I realized: “My financial goals are totally different than these people; I want to have a large liquid cushion so I can take the risk of striking out on my own in two years.”
Tucking it all away in retirement vehicles wasn’t going to help. So I re-allocated.
Great questions like these above can prompt real, positive decisions.