Ask most people what they want money for, and they will describe things: a house, a car, travel, education. But behind all of those things is something simpler — the ability to make choices. The ability to not work a job you hate just because you have no alternative. The ability to leave a situation that is damaging you. The ability to spend time on what matters rather than what is urgent. This — the freedom to direct your own time — is what money is ultimately for. And yet financial decisions are almost always discussed in terms of returns and possessions, not in terms of the autonomy they create or destroy.