The money illusion
Money is nothing, value is everything
Originally written in 2023, one of those drafts that was never published — yet hopefully remains relevant.
Most people on this planet tend to have a love-hate relationship with money. On our minds daily and to some extent ‘ruling’ the world, money in itself is worth nothing. Whether digital or physical, it’s only worth the value ascribed to it, trusting in the central banks that back any fiat currency or perhaps the collective of people passionate about a given digital currency.
Fiat and crypto alike, quite a few have gone bust. However, when someone is struggling to pay a credit card bill or feed a child that in itself might not be a very helpful thought. Yet it is an important starting point when digging into how to move to a point where money doesn’t rule life, and making sure anyone can rule their money.
Easier said than done, we’ve got a dozen other things to do on a daily basis, and budgeting and getting a grasp on personal finances is time consuming. Yet our finances and the finances of those around us, as well as those who struggle the most, are the main source of our worries globally (see top 3 global concerns in the above chart — side note: while inflation has come down, average income levels remain nominally behind as in prices remain elevated in relation).
The key is ascribing less emotional value to the number itself, be it a credit card balance that seems insurmountable, a loan that just keeps eating into monthly budgets or other forms of debts feeling like a weight on our shoulders. Although the lack of savings or money available for spending is stressful, being a bit of a fintech nerd, many an insta story, Medium article and LinkedIn post have covered the topic of building wealth little by little.
Sure, I recall a friend saying that the ‘1% always has their own 1%’, indirectly referring to a stat often quoted when it comes to the world’s wealthy people. In case you were wondering what it takes to enter that ‘overarching’ 1%, it requires you to have a net worth of over $1m.
Yet ‘wealth’ technically doesn’t equal money, and that is the reason for the title of this article, because money is in fact nothing. It is the value that we can derive from it that counts. Captain obvious? Not so much, the value of money and what it might be in the future continue to be a much debated topic on financial podcasts.
As mentioned in this Money Talks episode (aired back in 2023) on what dominant forms of money on the globe might be, 3 forms are highlighted:
- Central Bank Digital Currencies (first time consumers have direct access to central bank money)
- Commercial bank money (banks), either digital or physical, access to central bank backed money accessed through your bank
- Cryptocurrencies
Equally the fact that many a ‘market bubble’ continue to occur, despite those seemingly knowledgable collectively letting it happen, remains a much debated topic.
If we all accept the fact that money, just like Spiderman, is a figment of our imagination it might not help all of us pay the rent or mortgage. It will help put a lot of aspects of daily life in the right perspective.
The point?
The lack of inclusive financial literacy education in existing education systems means relationships with money tend to be shaky for most (yes, even the rich).
With fertility rates declining in regions like Europe, our future selves might need us to think more carefully about these currently fictional characters, as highlighted in this article.
The money our future selves need may not always outweigh our present needs, but building wealth for the future, while still meeting current obligations, is increasingly achievable with the rise of consumer fintech.
Utopian? Perhaps, yet if all of us maintain awareness of our often-toxic relationship with money, slowly and steadily we’ll continue on the path of improving society as a whole.
Looking for a bit more context? I wrote this article titled ‘100% banking for everyone’ back in 2020.
