The celebration of Christmas is often associated with Christmas trees, snowmen, roast turkeys, mistletoes, log cakes, and Santa Claus on his sleigh pulled by his 12 reindeers (none of these are biblical, by the way). But these, and many other things you may see walking down Orchard Road, have nothing to do with what Christmas is really about. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. To Christians, it is the birth of God incarnated.
Imagine you were invited to Jesus’ birthday party, where he was asked to share his money wisdom as part of his birthday speech on Christmas Day. What do you think he would say? Well, he has said many things about money in the past, but looking at the world today, I am guessing that he may repeat what he said on top of a hill in northern Israel more than 2,000 years ago:
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moth and corroded by rust or – worse! – stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
Matthew 6:19-21, MSG
I believe that there are many money (and life) lessons in this message for us to learn this Christmas, even if you are not a Christian celebrating Christmas. I will just share three of them.
Do Not Focus On the Temporary
Over the past decades, I accumulated many trophies and medals, which were from the sports I participated in during my younger years, from when I was in the army, and from my short stint with an insurance company. These trophies followed me when I moved house three times, and even though they occupied a lot of space in my storeroom, I could not bear to throw them away. But two years ago, I had to clear my storeroom to make space for more important things, so I decided that it was time to get rid of them. I took some pictures, put them in some boxes, took a last look, sealed the boxes, and threw them away. To this day, I do not miss these plastic/metal wares.
In the passage, ‘Hoarding treasure down here (on earth) where it gets eaten by moth and corroded by rust or stolen by burglars’ is a metaphor that means accumulating things that are of and for temporary value. And so, the ‘treasure’ here is not just referring to the material possessions in life but to accumulating these material things for no worthy purpose. My trophies are examples of such treasures. For others, their trophies can be job titles, more money, larger houses, bigger cars, branded bags, expensive jewellery and watches, and even our children’s academic achievements.
Focus Instead on the More Permanent
For Christians, ‘heaven’ in the passage refers to a place of eternity where they are certain they will go after this temporary life on earth. But for non-Christians, you can take ‘heaven’ here to symbolise things that are more permanent, more valuable. Some examples would be building meaningful relationships, creating beautiful memories with others, contributing to the community, leaving a positive impact on others, and engaging in acts of kindness that will have a lasting impact. Basically, living a daily life that is worth living. The Japanese call it ikigai.
So, while the desire to do better in life and wanting our children to do well academically are not wrong in themselves, we need to ask ourselves what the motivation is. Do they contribute to our ikigai, or are they simply trophies to satisfy our own vanity? For me, I will be honest and tell you that I only saw the trophies as reminders of my past success. It was my own vanity. I did not use much of it to live out my ikigai.
What You Focus On Is Who and Where You Will End up Being
Because what you focus on is where your treasure is. And like what the message says, ‘It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.’ When we focus only on the material possessions in life that have no ikigai-value, we may end up becoming a person who loves things and uses people instead of using things and loving people. We become self-centred rather than other-centred. We may end up making career and money decisions that are not best for ourselves and the people around us in the long term. Is this who and where you want to be?
Two years ago, a family member became extremely ill and needed daily peritoneal dialysis. I threw away my useless trophies to make space for the monthly supply of the dialysis solution as well as the necessary medical accessories. Kidney dialysis patients go through many difficulties daily. Dialysis doesn’t make them better; it simply sustains them with the hope of a transplant one day. They have shortened life expectancy, and the average waiting time for a transplant is nine to ten years in Singapore. Many do not live long enough to see this day. Throwing away my trophies was not just literal; it was also a symbolic act that represented my resolve to not focus on the vanities of life but on caring for my loved one.
Nowadays, instead of just going for one holiday a year, I try to go for four. It costs me more money and takes away time from work. But knowing that one day, my loved one might not be able to travel much anymore, this life decision is more important.
So the money wisdom shared here is to not put our time, our money, our energy on things that are temporary and of lesser value but instead, invest in things that are more permanent and valuable.
As you celebrate Christmas, consider these questions: what trophies are you holding on to today? What are you focusing on that is temporary? What needs to be changed to focus more on the permanent?
Have a blessed Christmas and happy 2025!
The writer, Christopher Tan, is Chief Executive Officer of Providend Ltd, Southeast Asia’s first fee-only comprehensive wealth advisory firm and author of the book “Money Wisdom: Simple Truths for Financial Wellness“. He is also a Certified Ikigai Tribe Coach.
The edited version of this article was published in The Business Times on 23 December 2024.
For more related resources, check out:
1. Discovering Your “Ikigai” with Providend’s Philosophy
2. A Year in Transition: Reflections on a Challenging 2022
3. Reflections About Life in 2021
Providend promises to be a safe pair of hands and a second pair of eyes to help you avoid costly financial mistakes. You can find out more by reading our RetireWell™ eBook.
Through deep conversations with our advisers, you will gain clarity on what matters most in life and what needs to be done to live a good life, both financially and non-financially. Learn more about our investment philosophy here.
We do not charge a fee at the first consultation meeting. If you would like an honest second opinion on your current estate plan, investment portfolio, financial and/or retirement plan, make an appointment with us today.
