Is it a mistake to save all my money for later in life?

Rabbi Landau teaches that some people are saving money for a future they will never be able to enjoy. At twenty-five, money buys experiences: travel, adventure, energy, life. You may plan a cruise at seventy-five, “but your body and appetite will not be there then,” and neither will your freedom of movement.

King Solomon said that sometimes God gives a person wealth but does not give him the ability to enjoy it.

“Save money, absolutely save,” Rabbi Landau says, “but understand what you’re trading. Every dollar you refuse to touch today is a dollar you might only be able to look at later.” Wealth doesn’t mean spending everything now, “but it also doesn’t mean saving everything for a version of you who might not exist anymore.”

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

Saving is right, but saving everything for old age has a cost.

Fear, vulnerability, or tension

By the time the money is there, the body, the appetite, and the freedom of movement may not be.

Underlying need or longing

Money is meant to be used for life, not only looked at later.

Deepest human truth

King Solomon saw that a person can be given wealth without the ability to enjoy it. In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that the real fortune Hashem gives us when we are young is not always money; it is strength.