The Three Jobs of Money
Direct money toward security, freedom, and meaningful time with other people
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 99%
This model assigns money three legitimate jobs. First, it should create enough security to avoid the distress of unpaid bills, debt pressure, and financial fragility. Second, sustained saving should buy autonomy: the ability to leave unsuitable work or devote more time to activities that feel fulfilling. Third, money should facilitate meaningful experiences with friends and family, such as visits, meals, celebrations, and travel. Each financial decision can be tested against these functions. Saving is useful when it increases security or future freedom, while spending is useful when it strengthens relationships or supports a fulfilling life. Purchases that perform none of the three jobs deserve greater scrutiny. The model does not claim that money produces happiness automatically; it directs money toward conditions that reduce unhappiness and make valued living easier.
Origin
Jonathan Clements summarized these three uses while reflecting on money, happiness, retirement, and his terminal diagnosis. Extracted from Masters in Business.
Core principles
- 01Money first removes the misery and anxiety of being broke
- 02Savings create freedom to spend time on fulfilling work and activities
- 03Shared experiences usually matter more than status consumption
- 04Financial choices should be judged by their contribution to these three jobs
How to run it
- 1
Secure the floor
Quantify the reserves, insurance, debt reduction, and stable cash flow needed to prevent ordinary setbacks from becoming crises. Address the most dangerous financial vulnerabilities first.
Pro tip Define a concrete enough threshold rather than pursuing unlimited security.
Watch out Security can become an excuse for endless accumulation if the target is never specified.
- 2
Price financial freedom
Estimate how much saving is required to gain meaningful control over work and time. Translate the goal into an automatic contribution rate and a realistic horizon.
Pro tip Measure freedom in choices gained, not only in a retirement-account balance.
Watch out Do not postpone every valued activity until full retirement.
- 3
Name fulfilling uses of time
Identify the work, service, learning, creativity, rest, or relationships you would choose with greater autonomy. This prevents financial freedom from becoming an empty objective.
Pro tip Test desired activities in small doses before restructuring life around them.
Watch out Escaping a disliked job is not the same as knowing how to use freedom well.
- 4
Fund meaningful connection
Set aside money for experiences that bring important people together. Favor spending that creates attention, presence, and shared memories.
Pro tip Include recurring modest gatherings as well as occasional major trips.
Watch out Expensive experiences are not automatically more meaningful.
- 5
Audit spending by job
Review large or recurring expenses and ask which of the three jobs each performs. Reduce expenditures that provide little security, freedom, or connection.
Pro tip Redirect the savings immediately toward the job that matters most.
Watch out Do not use the framework to shame harmless pleasures that fit comfortably within the plan.
- 6
Rebalance across life stages
Revisit the balance between security, freedom, and shared experiences as health, age, family, and resources change. Permit present spending to rise when future accumulation has already done its job.
Pro tip Schedule reviews after major diagnoses, career changes, births, deaths, or retirements.
Watch out A spending rule suitable in early accumulation may become needlessly restrictive later.
In the wild
Clements said decades of saving meant money was not an additional worry amid cancer treatment and possible medical costs. He also began spending more freely on travel with his family because his shortened horizon made present shared experiences more valuable.
→ His money simultaneously reduced distress and enabled meaningful time with loved ones.
A professional builds emergency reserves and invests consistently until taking a more meaningful but lower-paid role becomes safe. The family also protects an annual budget for visiting distant relatives.
→ Money provides resilience, vocational choice, and stronger family connection.
Common mistakes
Treating accumulation as the purpose
Wealth that never supports security, autonomy, or relationships becomes a score rather than a tool.
Buying status instead of connection
High-cost consumption may provide little durable happiness when it neither reduces worry nor deepens valued experiences.
Saving without an enough point
Without a defined security threshold, fear can keep a financially secure person from using money for freedom or family.
Is it for you?
Best for
Savers and spenders who want a values-based test for allocating income, investments, and discretionary spending.
Not ideal for
Anyone expecting money alone to resolve health, relationship, identity, or purpose problems.
From the transcript
“money doesn't buy happiness. It lets you avoid unhappines it's the unhappiness of being broke.”
“money can buy you the financial freedom spend your days doing what you love.”
“money can allow you to have special times with friends and family”
From the episode
Jonathan Clements Explains Why Dying is Hard Work
Jonathan Clements