Since economies and investments and so on are social constructs, and are not true in themselves and thus are not self-evident like logical axioms, they are not knowable a priori; as such, no one can possibly be stupid just for being unfamiliar with them. No one has to make assumptions or believe contradictions, still. There does nevertheless appear to be a great deal of people who are quite irrational when it comes to everything from their goals for personal finance to the way they might go into avoidable debt for things like an overly expensive vehicle. Personal finance merely encompasses how individuals and their households utilize money, and of course the issues and truths having to do with the use of money at this scale.
Much of what some people might think or be told on the subject is demonstrably false. No, credit cards are not an automatic slippery slope to asininely accrued, needless consumer debt. No, you do not always have to be working jobs that make $100,000 or more a year just to survive or live comfortably. Because they are distracted by errors like these or because they are not sure where to start discovering their options with money, since social constructs cannot be known from purely looking to reason and introspection alone (one would need sensory/social prompting for some things), some people might learn far later than they would have liked about certificates of deposit, high-yield savings, investing for retirement through workplace benefits or personal investment, and so forth.
Even if they are familiar with these things and the truths about them, remaining committed to safe, careful, or productive money management at some baseline level could be enormously difficult. Some people like to emphasize how psychologically useful having a major goal, like retiring with a certain amount or being able to use monetary resources to freely assist others, can instill in them a desire to stay on course. No one needs to actually have or focus on such a thing in order to not use money in stupid or counterproductive ways, such as by intentionally spending more money than one makes in order to feel an emotional high or impress someone else. Now, this does not mean it is not emotionally or otherwise very helpful to firmly or frequently dwell on one's significant goals for using money, even if the goal is just to have peace about survival and comfort.
The highest objective in saving or utilizing money is nonetheless to ensure that oneself or someone else, though leisure and wealth are not prerequisites for constant rationalistic thought and their absence is not an excuse for the opposite, does not have to worry about comparatively trivial matters like money and housing when dwelling on ultimate matters—logical necessities, absolute certainty, ethics, self-actualization as a rationalistic being, etc. The most rational, pure motivation for accumulating and managing wealth is precisely this: overcoming the personal and practical obstacles that poverty poses to focusing more strictly on abstract issues of logical, philosophical truth that already underpin and transcend things like wealth, financial satisfaction, and navigating the practical aspects of life.
Money certainly does not and cannot matter in itself. It is at best a pragmatic tool aimed at goals of the mind, and as a pragmatic tool and a social construct, and especially as both at once, it could not possibly be the core of reality or worthy of the utmost devotion. The genuinely highest end for which money can be wielded as a means to achieve is celebrating and living for rationalistic truths—whether how wealth minimizes the need to concentrate on practical matters alongside what is explicitly abstract, how one can use wealth to express individuality within the boundaries of morality, or how one can use money to benefit the lives of other people. Money, despite how formal or informal currency is not a requirement for a society to come about or endure, is often instrumental for survival and material prosperity, and while this is not unimportant, it is not the ultimate heart of reality.
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