A few days ago, I was taking a walk with my 3-year-old daughter. As we approached a crosswalk, hand in hand, I looked at her and said in a playful way, "Stop, look and listen!" She immediately repeated these words in a singsong way as she acted them out. She loves to be silly with her daddy.

Money is simply a tool that can be used to accomplish many things. Personally, I love the idea of using money as a means of facilitating connection. For our family and the community that supported us, that translated into adopting our daughter. For you, it may mean something else, like taking a friend to dinner or paying for the guy behind you in the drive-thru, or donating to a local food pantry.

Decision-making in times of uncertainty is a frightening and sometimes paralyzing process. Don’t let market noise cause you to freeze up when level-headed decisions are needed most.

In reality, managing your money for a lifetime is less like driving across the country and more like trying to sail around the world. It involves setting a destination, charting a course, and then making adjustments along the way as challenges arise. The tricky part is getting back on tack once the seas settle.