Money only has one property which is of any use to anyone:

IT CAN BE SPENT

It confers no other properties on the owner. Absolutely none.

This is a fact we often have to remind our clients. There is no point accumulating wealth just for the sake of it. If you are going to save, it must be for a purpose. This leads us quite nicely to the question most often posed by those inexperienced in financial planning:

What’s the point of Saving?

The answer is spending. But not spending now, spending in the future. Remember that the only useful feature of money is that it can be spent. So rather than saving why not think about it as “deferred spending”? Don’t spend it today (when your income is high) so you can spend it at some point in the future when you’re income is reduced (i.e. in retirement).

There is no point hoarding money for the sake of it.  It’s designed for spending and you can’t take it with you!