Another book on my “must read” list is “The Number: A Completely Different Way To Think About The Rest Of Your Life” by Lee Eisenberg. I came across it in the February 2006 Wealth Manager magazine.
The idea behind the book is that our financial 
planning should produce a magic number – a dollar amount that would make us “feel financially secure and not worry about running out of money.” But, Eisenberg says, that’s “only half of the story.” Before determining a dollar amount, we need to know why we want it.
“It’s not really ‘how much?’ but ‘what for?’" Eisenberg says. “And if you can’t ask the two questions at the same time, first ask ‘what for?’ Then worry about finding how you need to get there.”
Perhaps that principle applies equally to all aspects of what we do, every goal we have, and not just money. “What do I need and what do I need it for?”
