What’s your mood today? I find it very interesting to hear all of the radio announcers and TV reporters making such a big deal out of getting your taxes done. Many post offices have also jumped on the band wagon and almost made it a holiday or a celebration. But everyone doesn’t necessarily see it that way.

A friend of mine told me that when her husband gets upset about the amount they have to pay in taxes, she reminds him that it’s a good thing – it means they’re making money! It’s interesting to me to think about my own reaction to having to pay taxes versus getting money back. Getting money back seems to make you (or at least me) feel better, but then you have to stop and analyze why you’re getting that money back. Chances are you didn’t make as much.

Over the last several weeks, so many people have been so worked up about the market and the toll it’s taking on the economy. Exactly what control does money really have on anyone? Is it money or is it our perspective about and attitude towards money that determines our feelings and behaviors?

In the book The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist, she states, “Money is an invention, a distinctly human invention. It is a total fabrication of our genius. We made it up and we manufacture it. It is an inanimate object. From the very beginning, money was invented to facilitate the sharing and exchanging of goods and services among individuals and groups of people. Money still facilitates the sharing and exchange of goods and services, but somewhere along the way the power we gave money outstripped its original utilitarian role. Now, rather than relating to money as a tool we created and control, we have come to relate to money as it if is a fact of nature, a force to be reckoned with. This stuff called money, mass-produced tokens or paper bills with no more inherent power than a notepad or a Kleenex, has become the single most controlling force in our lives.”

Lynne also writes, “Money has only the power that we assign to it, and we have assigned it immense power. We have given it almost final authority. If we look only at behavior, it tells us that we have made money more important than we are, given it more meaning than human life. Humans have done and will do terrible things in the name of money. They have killed for it, enslaved other people for it, and enslaved themselves to joyless lives in pursuit of it.”

Recently, when preparing to meet with a financial planner and I heard myself saying, “I’d rather have a root canal or go to the gynecologist that meet with a financial planner!” Why is that? I think it probably goes back to our own personal beliefs and experiences with money. When I think back to my first experiences with money, I remember my mother telling me that there were 10 dimes in a dollar and that was a lot of money. At the time, all I wanted was to buy a birthday card for my friend and instead I got a lesson about the value of a dollar. I also remember when I was in college, I was taking a sociology class of some kind and we were discussing socio-economic backgrounds and we were to report how much money our parents (Dads probably) made. When I called my Dad to ask, he said that it was none of their business. My Dad also refused to complete financial aid forms for the same reason. Needless to say, I think I got the message loud and clear that your finances are personal and aren’t to be discussed with others. Probably not the best belief system when dealing with money.

I would challenge you to take a look at your beliefs around money and the effect that it has on you and your behaviors. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is your first memory of money? Was it good or bad?
• What was your first disappointment related to money? How did you deal with it?
• Were you given an allowance or did you simply get money when you needed it?
• Were you encouraged to save or were you allowed to buy whatever you wanted?