First of all-- a great and thoughtful post @firepower... got me to thinking about this rather complex topic.

What is money? A temporary store of value. It offers more freedom of choice. It offers a measure of security, or at least the illusion of security.

No, you can't spend it from the grave... as a wise elderly gentleman once told me "Shrouds have no pockets." A lot of truth there... in the olden days, the idea of "leaving an inheritance" seemed quite important, but people often blow through money willy-nilly... especially if they weren't the ones who had to work to make it.

For me, the power of money is mostly in how it can be used to make a difference... this small Steemit account belongs to our little independent art gallery and the few cents that result here might (eventually) allow us to help out struggling and new artists find a little "financial headroom" to work more on their art and less on having to spend their creative time as grocery clerks, restaurant servers and so on. For now, that's just a dream; a theory...

... but that gets back to the motivational power behind money. The fact that there is now a pathway towards that possibility (through Steemit and its rewards) that's a strong inspiration.