Your Investments: What’s your financial why?

“Which brings us to a deeper paradox,” he wrote. “The first sentence of this week’s parsha of Chayei Sarah is: ‘Sarah’s lifetime was 127 years: the years of Sarah’s life.’ A well-known comment by Rashi on the apparently superfluous phrase, ‘the years of Sarah’s life,’ states: ‘The word “years” is repeated and without a number to indicate that they were all equally good.” How could anyone say that the years of Sarah’s life were equally good? Twice, first in Egypt, then in Gerar, she was persuaded by Abraham to say that she was his sister rather than his wife, and then taken into a royal harem, a situation fraught with moral hazard.”

In answer to his question, he said you need to know your “why.”

“We have learned this extraordinary mindset from Holocaust survivors like Edith Eger and Viktor Frankl,” he wrote.

“But in truth, it was there from the very beginning, from Abraham and Sarah, who survived whatever fate threw at them, however much it seemed to derail their mission, and despite everything they found serenity at the end of their lives. They knew that what makes a life satisfying is not external but internal, a sense of purpose, mission, being called, summoned, of starting something that would be continued by those who came after them, of bringing something new into the world by the way they lived their lives. What mattered was the inside, not the outside; their faith, not their often-troubled circumstances. I believe that faith helps us to find the ‘Why’ that allows us to bear almost any ‘How.’ The serenity of Sarah’s and Abraham’s death was eternal testimony to how they lived.”

As I have mentioned many times, the final words of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, on his deathbed were: “I blew it” – a reflection of his regret for working too hard and prioritizing his business over what was truly important. His regret is a famous example of a common “regret of the dying,” which is the wish that they had spent more time with loved ones instead of being so focused on their career.

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but so many people I meet with struggle with these kinds of work-balance issues. I know many who worked around the clock, made huge amounts of money, and are now wondering if it was all worth it.

The sacrifice of missing out on time with family, enjoying some of what the world has to offer, just to make more money than they could ever need, leaves them pondering whether they made a huge mistake in the way they lived their lives.

Personally, I think I have changed as well. When I was younger, I had less perspective, and as a good financial adviser doing his job, it was all about saving as much money as possible and, of course, getting it invested to have as much as possible for retirement. Now, while I still 100% believe that you need to save and invest to have a secure retirement, I also believe that it’s okay to spend money!

Figuring out your financial “why” requires introspection. Start by asking yourself questions like: What do I truly value? What kind of life do I want to create for myself and those I care about? What worries keep me up at night – and how could financial security ease them? Writing down your answers can help clarify priorities and reveal themes that guide your financial choices.

Once your “why” is defined, it becomes the foundation of your financial strategy. It influences everything from how you allocate investments to how you spend daily. More importantly, it helps you stay disciplined during challenging times.