Money is what many would say is “the root of all evil.” It is a common belief that has persisted ever since it was mis- quoted from The Bible. I have often heard my friends and acquaintances say it while expressing a half-developed philosophy to which the solution to all the world’s problems lie in getting rid of money. Under scrutiny, this philosophy tends to fall apart. For example, if you use money to incentivize people to do something good, then surely it cannot be pure evil. Yet if someone does something wrong or malicious and receives no money for it then how can that act of evil be attributed to money?

The truth is that money is a tool and like any tool it is important to use it for the right purposes.

Have you ever built something? A nice wooden box, a deck, or maybe a tree fort? When doing such things, it is crucial to have the right tools. It would be near impossible to drive a nail through three planks of hard wood without a hammer. However, if the only tool you have is a hammer alone, then how will you paint?

Anyone who has built just about anything will recognize that the right tools can make all the difference. If you used a tool like money to ante up the bet at a Las Vegas casino or as kindling to start your campfire, you may be metaphorically ‘using the hammer to paint’.

While hammers are a great tool for building a house, money is the tool we use to build your retirement. Financial independence is simply the finished product that results from the proper use of money. Of course, there is way more to life than money; and in the building of true fulfillment, having money is just one of many necessary tools. Fulfillment is much more elusive than retirement alone, but in either case money is useful. For us here at Strategic Planning Group, money is our hammer and your retirement is our nail.