Finance assumes that people are rational. The problem is, they are not. Money and emotion are tied together, and not always in good ways. Money and emotion are frenemies.
That’s the fundamental issue in financial planning. Very few people view money as a tool. So then, what is it? Is it security? Freedom? A game? A status signal? A way to keep score? The mark of evil? A problem? Until you figure this out, your financial planning and your trading will suffer.
Of course, the answer will depend on where your life is now, and it may change over the course of a lifetime.
The key is figuring out what it means to you. That’s not always easy to determine, and it takes years of therapy for some people. But it’s a start. If you aren’t happy with your financial situation, see if you can determine what money means to you. Let that mull in your brain for a while and then see if you don’t have any insights to help you.
By the way, to me, money is freedom. How about for you?
Similar here, I often regard money as a tool to achieve freedom. Achieving freedom or a better life is always easier with more money but you can gain far more wealth than what you have right now and still fail at becoming happy or free if you misuse money.