I’ve been reading a novel (The Seventh Telling: The Kabbalah of Moshe Katan, by Mitchell Chefitz ) that involves a rabbi who begins applying his sharp, analytical mind to the world of finance. He tells his new mentor, “I think excess money, money you have beyond what you need for survival, is either bondage or freedom. You can use it to buy things which keep you in bondage, servicing them, or you can use it for freedom, to do those things that lead to experience and growth.”
It made me stop and think about different ways money may become the master:
• When people work and work, yet never seem to have time or make time to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
• Or when they might spend and spend, yet none of their “stuff” brings them joy or quite feels like it’s enough.
• Maybe some have amassed lots of debt that brings them heaps of stress.
If nothing else, it’s a good discussion to have with our kids (if they’re, say, 10 or 12 or older). Go ahead. I dare you! Report back here some of the more salient comments that come up on my Financial Parenting Linkedin Group. I promise to do the same.
To be continued….
