IN THE GRAND SCHEME of things, money is just a tool and net worth is just a number. We shouldn’t work solely to make more money. Instead, our goal should be to use that money to create as happy a life as we possibly can.
In their book Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton explore this idea. How can we best use money to buy happiness?

HAVE YOU EVER considered what you want your retirement to look like? Not just generically, but in vivid detail? If you haven’t, I urge you to go through this exercise as you flesh out your financial goals.
Visualization is used mainly by athletes as they prepare for competition, so that they can get as close to the experience as possible before the competition starts. This was witnessed across the world when American skier Lindsey Vonn’s visualization routine was caught on camera before an Olympic race.

JAMES CLEAR, in his bestselling book Atomic Habits, offers this thought-provoking notion: Suppose a plane takes off from Los Angeles on its way to New York. But after taking off, the pilot turns the nose of the plane by an almost imperceptible 89 inches. Where will the plane end up? The answer: nowhere near New York. As it flies across the country, that 89-inch difference will take it hundreds of miles off course.

WHEN FOLKS HAVE financial questions, they go hunting for the right answer. But what if there’s no right answer to be found?
To be sure, in retrospect, the correct answer is often crystal clear. Looking back at 2018, we should have owned growth stocks until September and then gone to 100% cash. If our home didn’t burn down and our health was good, we shouldn’t have bothered with homeowner’s and health insurance. If we kept our job and survived the year,

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE about money? I’m talking here about money scripts—subconscious beliefs developed since childhood that influence your financial behavior.
These beliefs have been studied extensively by Ted and Brad Klontz, the father-and-son team who founded the Financial Psychology Institute and authored Mind Over Money. Here are some common money scripts:

“Avoid debt at all costs.”
“Money is the root of all evil.”
“We can always make more money.”

While there’s an element of truth to each,

THE NEW YEAR BRINGS the opportunity for fresh beginnings. You may be motivated to set a big goal, create a business plan or start a new diet. While I encourage you to always push yourself forward, I’d offer one piece of advice: Start small.
Do you look at your goals and feel overwhelmed? I have this feeling when looking at the total amount I need saved for my eventual financial independence. To help, I reverse engineer the process and focus on the amount I need to save this month.

WHEN I STARTED writing my column for The Wall Street Journal in 1994, active money managers dominated the investment scene and index funds were struggling to get noticed. A quarter century later, most money remains actively managed, rather than indexed. The triumph of indexing is not yet complete.
Still, everybody knows which way the wind is blowing. Over the decade through 2017, index funds focused on U.S. stocks—both the mutual-fund and the exchange-traded varieties—attracted $1.6 trillion in new money,

IF YOU’VE EVER ASKED for career advice, you were probably told to “follow your passion.” This seems like great advice. Who wouldn’t want to do what they’re passionate about every day?
The reality: What you’re passionate about may not be a viable career. I’m passionate about the game of golf. But I fell short of making it my career, despite playing collegiately.
There have been plenty of times when I’ve thought I needed to change direction.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE musicians is singer and songwriter Neil Young, who has sold millions of records since the 1960s. Young was rated No. 17 by Rolling Stone on its list of 100 greatest guitarists. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: once as a solo artist in 1995 and as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.
When I was in college in the early 1970s, I would often hear students strumming their guitars to his songs as I walked across campus.

WE HUMANS CAN BE a bit irrational. We’ll struggle to the bitter end over potential losses of property, whether it’s fretting over investment losers, trying to recover money we’ve lent or wrangling over our parents’ estate. But strangely, when it comes to what may be our most valuable resource—time—we collectively shrug off losses as a mere nothing. That “mere nothing” can often have significant financial implications for future monies earned or lost.
Time has specific properties.

A LITTLE WHILE BACK, a friend—let’s call him Paul—recommended a book with an unusual title: How Not to Die. As you might guess, it’s about health, nutrition and longevity. Since Paul is a cardiologist and knows a thing or two about what can land people in hospital, I took his recommendation seriously and immediately ordered a copy.
When the book arrived, I learned that the prescription for not dying isn’t so simple.

TODAY WAS PAINFUL. How painful? Think of the financial losses:

Homeowners who closed on their house sale might have lost as much as 6% of the proceeds to real-estate commissions.
Car buyers who picked up their new vehicle probably gave up more than 10% of the purchase price just by driving off the dealership lot.
Those who signed separation agreements with their soon-to-be-ex spouse likely surrendered 50%.
Investors who bought load funds might have been nicked for 5.75%.

WHILE DINING RECENTLY at my favorite restaurant, I focused on my food order. But I also got to thinking about economic concepts—an occupational hazard for a retired academic.
Opportunity cost hit me almost immediately. When the urge to eat strikes, I cannot consume two meals at two different restaurants at the same time. By selecting “A” over “B,” I’m automatically giving up an experience at “B.” Next, once in my selected spot,

HAS THE PERCENTAGE of individuals across the world living in extreme poverty remained the same, doubled or halved over the past 20 years? If you answered halved, give yourself a pat on the back. According to Gapminder.org, you’re among just 9% of respondents who answered the question correctly. Despite what you hear on the news, the world is gradually becoming a better place.
It’s difficult to recognize progress, including our own financial progress, when it happens slowly over long periods of time.

THE STOCK MARKET this year reminds me of one of those Rorschach inkblot tests. The broad U.S. market has gained more than 4%, including dividends, but it’s difficult to know what to make of it. Bulls point to this year’s tax cuts and believe that the market’s gain makes complete sense. Bears, on the other hand, note that the market has quadrupled in less than 10 years and conclude that it’s at an unsustainably high level.