Money Changes Things

MONEY CHANGES THINGS: Socially responsible investing, savvy consuming, sustainable living, philanthropy, frugal yet generous affluence, children's financial education, and general whimsy.

When my parents died, I received, much to my surprise, an inheritance. At that point in my life, we were already financially secure. I had no particular needs or dreams that this could underwrite. (My sister bought a second home. My brother retired.) I moved 10% to my first Donor Advised Fund and gradually disbursed it to a wide variety of non-profits. The other 90% took me on a new journey, and resulted in this blog.

These are my musings about creative and wise uses of money. It's not about investing in stocks, bonds, or equities; it's not about diamonds, fancy cars, or second homes. There's lots of advice about that in the world. 

This is for people who, to their surprise, have more money than they need for "enough" and can choose what to do with a surplus. Perhaps you you have accumulated wealth from living beneath your means and investing. Or maybe you have experienced a windfall through an inheritance, real estate appreciation, or business success. What do you do with it? There is a taboo about talking about the experience of money in our society; we are not open about discussing what money is really for. Mostly we just hear, discuss, or observe what people buy, or how to save more. Let's go deeper and think about how to use money to improve our quality of life, not just our standard of living. 

This blog explores money as a way to invest in relationships, health, lowered anxiety, simple pleasures, community, personal growth, self-education, helping others, cultivating a generous spirit, and more broadly, working to improve our world - the proven paths to feeling good and finding meaning in life. 

My son introduced me to the world of blogging, and here I go.