Can you meet your obligations without constant disruption? Could you absorb a setback without everything unravelling? Are you making progress, even slowly, toward something that matters to you? And do you feel – not just on paper, but in your chest, on a Tuesday evening with a cold cup of tea – that you have some genuine control over your own life?

Money is meant to coordinate resources and obligations across time and space, to help manage uncertainty, and to give you the means to pursue things you care about whilst participating fairly in society. Or, in plainer terms: it's meant to reduce worry, create options and enable the life you're trying to build. That's it. Money isn't meant for endless accumulation or one-upping your mates.