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Tips to Help You Find Your Money Values

Tips to Help You Find Your Money Values

Jenius Bank Team9/30/2024 • Updated 11/15/2024
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Your money values play a key role in your financial success. Everyone has personal values that define their moral compass, inter-personal relationships, and overall life path. Your personal values are largely shaped by your life experiences and environment, such as your upbringing, your culture, your community, and more. Your money values are an offshoot of your personal values and typically define how you view your finances and how you choose to manage money. Even if you don’t think about them or can’t articulate them, your values around money likely impact your finances on every level. Taking time to identify those money values could help you make smarter financial decisions for you.

Key Takeaways

  • Your money values may reflect how you view and interact with money in your daily life.
  • Your values may change in response to your lifestyle, earnings, and other factors.
  • Making sure your values and your financial habits align could make it easier to meet your goals.

What Are Money Values?

Your money values are guiding principles that support your relationship with your money, savings, and financial situation in general. As mentioned, there is usually a strong connection between your financial values and your personal values. These perspectives are formed throughout your life based on what you experience, lessons you learn, and the wisdom or advice offered by those you admire or look up to, like your parents and/or other role models. Of course, your values are completely within your control and may grow and change as you do.If someone asked you about your own financial values, you may immediately think, “I want to make a lot of money.” But for what purpose? How will that serve you in life? As you dig deeper into that question, you start to uncover your real financial motivations.Jenius Bank surveyed over 4,000 people aged 25-55, and we asked them the definition of being rich. Respondents identified their top three definitions for richness, and it wasn’t about consumerism like buying fancy cars or lavish homes. Instead, they cited the following:
  • Not having financial debt (33.4%)
  • Retiring early without concern of running out of funds (33.1%)
  • Establishing generational wealth (27.8%)
“When we look at the answers from respondents about what it means to be rich and overall, how they feel about their finances, we saw themes around creating financial security, developing money confidence, and building a legacy,” said Julie Guntrip, Jenius Bank’s Head of Financial Wellness. “If we look at those themes as proxies for people’s financial values, it’s probably not a surprise that, at their core, many people value providing stability for their family now and in the future and having the ability to live free from financial worry.” People’s money values are as unique as the individual. It’s also common to change your values as your financial situation evolves or as your personal values shift.

How to Find Your Money Values

Your financial values may directly and indirectly influence the way you view money and how you use it. Understanding your own values may help you be more disciplined with your spending and encourage you to build your savings. They help you stay on track to meet your financial goals and may even help you build your wealth more effectively over time.Here are a few tips to help.

Identify Your Core Beliefs

Think about what matters most to you, not just financially but personally. Do you prioritize your family and loved ones? Are you passionate about giving back to the community? Do you have a cause you actively support? These personal values could help guide your money values.

Examine How Money Impacts Your Life

Consider how you spend your money each month. List out the categories or areas where money impacts and affects your life. This may include categories like the following1:
  • Your health
  • Your career
  • Your family
  • Your education
  • Your lifestyle
  • Your mental health
  • Your future
Once you have your list in place, consider what’s most important to you within those categories and how your finances impact each category. For example, money may impact your physical health because it allows you to buy healthy food and supplements or cover the cost of medications you need. Guntrip adds that in our Mind-Money Connection research, respondents said that their finances influenced major life milestones, including choices about getting married or having children. It’s common for money to impact your mental health as well. Jenius Bank’s research shows that over 50% of respondents say that their finances are making them stressed or causing anxiety or feelings of depression. What’s more, 53% of people said that they think about their financial situation daily, confirming that for many, money is frequently on their minds.“Overall, it’s sometimes hard to know where to draw the lines between money decisions and life decisions,” Julie points out. “So it’s important to take the time to explore the role money plays in your life.”

Collaborate With Others

Your financial values are unique, but that doesn’t mean you can’t discuss them with others. Doing so may help you clarify what matters most to you. If you’re single and managing your finances on your own, consider talking to your friends, family, and loved ones about your values. If you’re in a relationship or manage finances with another person, consider discussing your money values with them. When you’re on the same page and understand what matters most to both of you, you may be able to create goals that meet both of your needs.

Align Your Financial Values and Money Habits

Aligning your financial values and money habits may be tough. Here are a couple of tips to help you integrate the two.

Establish Your Priorities

Once you understand how money impacts your life and your values, start creating goals that help you live your values. The key is to prioritize your goals in a way that works for your financial situation. Create a list of things you want to achieve and consider how your goals align with your values. They don’t have to be complex. For example, you may decide to build your emergency fund to further reduce financial stress and improve or maintain your mental health. Or you could strive to contribute more to your retirement account to help build wealth for the future. Each goal is up to you, and you can always add new goals as needed to fit your values as they shift.

Build Your Budget

Consider creating a budget that reflects your values and prioritizes the goals you’re setting for your values. Using your core values, allocate your money accordingly. For example, if travel is important to you, you might add funds to a vacation fund . Aligning your budget with your values helps ensure that your money is being used in a way that brings you fulfillment and satisfaction. Remember, your financial goals and values may change over time, so it's important to reassess and realign as needed.

Make Intentional Spending Choices

Intentional spending means taking time to think about each non-essential purchase before you make it. Ask yourself if the item you’re thinking of buying adds value to your life or helps you live your money values more effectively. If it does, it’s worth spending the money on. But if it doesn’t, you may want to hold off. Take time to track your spending and watch for trends. Are you spending money on things that don't align with your core values? If so, you many need to adjust your spending habits. For example, if you value health and wellness but find yourself spending a significant amount on fast food and unhealthy snacks, it may be time to reevaluate your spending habits. Consider cutting back on expenses that don't bring you joy and reallocate that money towards things that do align with your values. In this example, that could mean cooking more meals at home, investing in a gym membership, or purchasing organic produce. By making small adjustments to your spending habits, you could be using your money in a way that reflects what is truly important to you.

Create Smart Savings Plans

Creating a savings plan that aligns with your financial values is another effective way to help ensure your money is working for you, not just in a practical sense but in a way that reflects what’s most important to you. Your savings plan may include building an emergency fund for peace of mind or setting money aside for future trips; create a plan that aligns your savings with the values that keep you motivated and focused. Creating a value-driven savings plan helps to improve your financial stability while also helping you to steer clear of distractions and impulse spending. With a clear plan, you may feel more confident in your financial decisions and more in control of your future.

Final Thoughts

Your financial values speak to who you are and how money may influence your life and your goals. While they’re important to keep in mind, they could change as your situation changes. But one thing that never changes is the importance of making money work for you rather than letting it become a source of stress in your life.
Financial WellnessMoney Management