For centuries, money has been at the epi-center of human culture. Financial professionals live, think, and breathe money. They buy, sell, invest, insure, protect, hedge, speculate, and create; it’s all about the money. Most (if not all) major brokerage houses have an investment-banking component, and banks are becoming ever more “creative,” particularly on the investment side.
Money can bankroll ideas, which are more precious than money, which stimulate trade and inventions (materially and ideologically), and benefit people, investors, and entire cultures. With today’s technology and communication systems, FPs sit at the apex of a financial universe in which they can participate directly, and create solutions to their client’s needs. Money is the opiate of the markets in a free market, entrepreneurial universe. Money lubricates the system; it is the system, and it has a life of its own.
Money provides for, and protects; it takes care of those who work for it and respect it. As we have already discussed, money gives us security, freedom, and safety. But it can also distort one’s values and beliefs, and it can corrupt the human spirit and breed arrogance. It is very important for the FP to really know what money is, and what it can and cannot do.
Classical thinking contends that money is a medium of exchange, but emotionally it is much more. Money is a complicated psychological commodity. Money is a measure of wealth, a means of payment, and in many circles a sign and symbol of status.
Money is important to all people (especially FPs and clients) for a nearly infinite variety of practical and emotional reasons. Again, clients are ultra-sensitive about money—most of all, about losing it. This fact must always be respected by financial professionals, who should devise their investment strategies accordingly. Money creates opportunity; it is a tool. Money allows us not only to live but also to enjoy a certain kind of freedom whereby we can fulfill our obligations and pursue our interests and passions, which sometimes require a certain level of buying power.