An eventual solid gold statue of yourself?

Or perhaps one depicting your favorite pooch, Spudgy.

Whatever it may be, finding that special reason to care about your personal finances will help you in reaching your financial goals.

Last week, the question “When did you start caring about your finances?” was asked, and many people kindly took the time out to respond. The responses varies from “I’ve always cared about my finances” to “rude awakening made me realize I should care more.” Although you can find the “when” in the context of these response, the “why” wasn’t always mentioned.

Ask yourself this question: Why should I care about my personal finances?

If you’re having difficulty answering the question on the spot, consider this other question: Would you like to live an uncomfortable and miserable life filled with stress and problems due to the lack of money?

The answer is most likely a resounding no (unless you’re a masochist; if so, call me). After all, who in their right mind would choose a life of miserly over a life of comfort?

So, is that the answer? Is that the reason why we should care about our finances? So we can have enough money to live a comfortable life?

Not really.

These days, you can easily live your life beyond your means. Theoritcally (and this isn’t being advocated), if you’re savvy enough with consumer lending laws, you can probably live through your entire life comfortably on borrowed money (of course, your future generation won’t be so comfortable, but that’s another story).

You can also be lacking severely in net worth and still live a comfortable and fullfilling life. No matter how much some people may like them, money isn’t the answer to everything.

If it isn’t solely about having enough money, and if it isn’t entirely about living a comfortable life, just what are the reasons why you should care about your personal finances?

The answer is of course different from one person to another.

A friend’s “why:”

My mother has been taking care of me and my sister as a single parent since we were born. My mom is 53 now, and all her life she hasn’t lived in a house yet. I’m working hard and watching my finances so I can one day buy my mom a house to call her own.

Yes, saving money for a house is a common financial goal. But that goal isn’t the real reason why my friend cares about her finances.

The reason? What a silly question. It’s because I love my mom!

Another friend’s “why:”

Seeing my father helping people as a doctor really made me want to become a doctor too. Medical school is no picnic, and the cost will definitely be something to watch for. I’m working hard and watching my finances so that the financial cost won’t be a factor preventing me from being a doctor.

Yes, saving money for an education or a dream is a common financial goal. But that goal isn’t the real reason why my friend cares about his finances.

The reason? What a silly question. It’s because I want to help people!

When we read personal finance books, articles, and blogs — we come across many good general advice: invest for your retirement, save for your child’s education, work toward reducing your debt, and plan ahead so you can buy that dream home.

What often happens with these many important goals is that we forget to attach an important reason onto them.

  • Why save for retirement? Because not only do you care about yourself, you care about your children and family and would not want to burden them.
  • Why save for your child’s education? Because you love your children and want them to achieve their dreams without being limited by financial factors.
  • Why accumulate wealth in order to give? Because spreading and improving the quality of life isn’t only limited to your loved ones.

For every financial goal you have, there is most likely a special reason behind it. Talk to yourself, talk to your loved ones, and talk to others. Seek and discover these special reasons, for once you’ve find the “whys” and attach them onto your financial goals, your goals will become much more real, much more clear, and entirely more feasible — because you’ll know exactly why you’re doing it.