Today is Rosh Hashanah.
I read up about it this morning and learned that, in ancient times, the
Hebrew New Year was connected to the beginning of the economic year in
agricultural societies. It is a time for
introspection, a time to look back on one’s mistakes during the last year and plan changes for a better future. What a great day to talk about recognizing your financial
mistakes and figuring out how to avoid making them again!
The current wisdom in the financial world is
that having more money does not solve financial problems. As counter-intuitive as that may seem, the
real issue with money problems is usually a person’s relationship with money. However you manage what money you have now is
how you will manage whatever amount of money you have – only the scale will
change.
Many people make mistakes because they haven’t had formal
training in money management, but even financial education won’t solve most people’s
money problems. Your attitude about
money is interwoven into your financial decisions. You may fight about money or avoid talking
about it with your spouse because you have different attitudes about how to
spend and save your income. Emotions may
run high when discussing finances because how you spend or save money reflects
who you are, and doing it differently just feels wrong.
During this ritual time of looking back in order to move
forward, give some thought to your relationship with money. Do you avoid dealing with it as much as
possible? Do you use it to present
yourself to the world? Are you obsessed
with accumulating it? Do you manipulate
or control others with it? What emotions
do you associate with money – satisfaction, elation, anxiety, fear? If a financial planner directed you to manage
your money in an entirely different way than you do now, would you do it? Could
you do it?
