what i think about when i think about money

money isn't real. it's made up. we all made it up, because we want to have expensive things. we want our things to be the best things. we can only do that if we invent money. without money, nothing is any better or worse than anything else.

the people who are really boring care about money. the people who are incredibly exciting care about money. everyone else kind of thinks money is what everyone uses to trick you into operating in a manner contrary to your best interests.

then, we get older, and we get wiser, and we realize the money we have is the time we have, because it buys healthcare and retirement and healthier food.

then, we start to care about money even if we are neither terrifically boring or exciting. then, we wonder if we aren't too late.

since we're too late, there's nothing to do but spend money on things that make us feel better because we messed up before we realized we had made a mistake.

also, we're supposed to buy houses. that's what everyone says. a house would be nice. new cars are kind of silly.

we're supposed to buy investment products, but we also wonder if anyone can be trusted to advise on these things because everything we see about investing is either incredibly convoluted or reminiscent of a scam.

but, we have to do something, and everyone says buying a house is good, and investing in a retirement is good.

and that's money. we made it up. so we could buy things. things like expensive coffee and sandwiches and cheese.

because we like things, and we would like to retire to read books and garden all day, we guess we like money.